Chinese Traffic Cameras Capture Horrific Accidents

This is absolutely insane. Total disregard for traffic signals and the results captured on traffic-cam videos.

May not be safe for work or some viewers.

Chinese Traffic Cameras Capture Horrific Accidents

It’s a dogshow on Chinese roads - I’ve only been knocked off my bike once (touch wood).

No rules at all. Except maybe ‘might is right’ or ‘first come, first to try their luck’.

Scary, and getting worse with the increase of new cars (and inexperienced drivers) hitting the roads daily…

What’s most shocking is that the vast majority of those accidents are clearly not the result of inadequate traffic control, poor roads, or bad visibility, but people simply not caring about what’s in front of them, even if they’re on a scooter and they’re about to run straight into a concrete mixer. Most of them drive directly and deliberately straight into the path of obviously lethal danger. You have to wonder what is going through their heads. :noway:

Not an awful lot. Perhaps of the three peanuts inside their skulls, one is working and the other two are on strike…

Wow, watching that (well, part of it–couldn’t stomach it for long) brought back memories. Whenever people here complain about the driving, I always think, “You ain’t seen nothin’.” I find driving here to be a total pleasure compared to the experiences I had on the mainland. Our very first week in China we were walking to eat dinner and saw a bus plow right into two ladies crossing the street on a crosswalk. One was obviously dead; the other seriously injured. The bus drove off, and a crowd gathered around…and did nothing. Like, at least a hundred people just watched her screaming in the street. Shudder. One of many such accidents I witnessed. No one pays attention to anyone else on the road.

Hairless barbarians.

Hairless barbarians.[/quote]

:laughing: Classic.

Hey! That’s what my lady friend called me last night, whilst doing a full body inspection… :ponder:

biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=21663

Here are the Russians …

This should dispel any notion that we humans are somehow ‘higher’ animals.

Db opined:

Now, to tell the truth, my first consideration upon reading this was to think…WTF?
But, then I pondered this comment a bit and attempted to search for the reasoning behind this attempt at connecting what appear to be divergent dots.

But first some background.
I posted this after taking our Son to school this morning. It is not a pleasant scooter ride;basically 7 minutes of pure demolition derby over to the high school and back.
This morning, a morning like any other, I witnessed 5 scooters running red lights. All with children riding passenger. Other “parents” taking kids to their schools.
Of the 5, 3 had children wearing no head protection. I am somewhat hesitant to call what commonly is worn here “helmets.” Plastic with foam inside doesn’t meet my idea of a safe head covering.
I was, as usual, appalled by the sheer stupidity and lack of concern again displayed. Running red lights with bare headed kids on the back.

I had just watched about 1/2 of the video and it was weighing on my mind during the trip to school.

Coming back home, I decided to post this link to the article and link to share this gruesome recording. Frankly, as another poster mentioned, it makes a lot of what I see on Taiwan look somewhat mild in comparison. But I do think there is a connection in the seeming lack of “common sense” and basic safety between the two places - Mainland - Taiwan.
Is it a lack of familiarity with the requirement for organized traffic rules/laws?
A cultural mind-set that refuses to accept the template of personal responsibility for ones actions and te results of this?
A culture clash with civilization?
Burn a bai-bai and let the gods sort it out?
I honestly am puzzled at what may be the root of such deadly actions and lack of responsibility for the results.

Getting back to the above quote, IMO, this is an attempt at the old “All cultures are equal” mantra. This video does not dispel the notion that humans are at the top of the food chain. And it certainly gives lie, once again, to the “3/4/5,000 years of civilized culture” BS that Sinophiles love to get all warm and snugly with. Hell, its so bad there that even the Mainlanders are using this video to try and get the locals to pay attention and obey the traffic laws. They recognize the problem. I hope this works for them.
This is a terrible picture of what looks to be daily carnage on the road.

I sent this video to some Gov’t muckers here on the island. Maybe it will get the local LEOs off their asses and actually doing their jobs.

I hold scant to no hope of that happening.

Even in Shanghai and Beijing it’s a nightmare. You want to see a bunch of animals posing as humans? Try to cross a road in either of these majestic cities on a green light.

I still can’t get over the people in that video who:

  • Are on bicycles, and who blithely cycle directly into the side of a stationary car or slowing scooter, continuing to aim directly for it and pedaling even as they collide; they look deliberately suicidal

  • Drive their push-bike powered or donkey pulled carts directly across four lane highways with visible oncoming traffic just meters away from the inevitable collision

The bad driving on the buses and cars doesn’t surprise me much, it’s the way these other people doggedly ram vehicles which are obviously going to kill them, or launch themselves in front of cars at the last minute. I honestly cannot understand this in the least.

In some senses it almost looks unreal that people could witness such a horrific accident in front of them and not even flinch. Watch it again, I’m yet to find a person, other than those involved, that even acknowledges the carnage.

Really weird stuff. As Fortigurn pointed out, most of the bicycle/scooter accidents are unthinkable how the person in control would attempt to cross the intersection. It’s hard to avoid using the word ‘suicidal’ because there is no other explanation that would make sense to me.

Taiwan must have improved over the last 15 years, but would have been just like that years ago. Still a long way to go for sure, but we aren’t the worst place in Asia. It baffles me here though, to see a bicycle, car, pedestrian or scooter simply enter traffic without looking. This is the very first thing I learned about crossing the road when I was 4. I noticed a couple people in the China video simply drive away from the accident, shocking. :astonished: When trying to go straight through an intersection, I often get people determined to turn left in front of me, and have tried to hold my ground on the scooter thinking they would stop, they usually don’t. All this crap often happens in front of the traffic cop working the intersection, what a joke that is. Be careful out there folks.

It seriously is a mindset of ‘first come - first to go’ in China. “If I enter the intersection on my bicycle first I expect/hope/pray to Buddha that them other folk will slow or swerve around me.”

I’ve been here five years and every second I’m on the road I see a near-collision. Swear to god - every second. It’s some weird shit.

In my first year on the mainland I was in a taxi on the way to a nightclub, so it was about 11ish. We were waiting at the lights, and as they turned green, a BMW 740i turned into the intersection, trying to beat his red. He started fishtailing as he turned, overcorrected, flipped and bowled out a street light. Except the street light came off better.

I ran over, asking if they were okay. Three birds had managed to get out of the overturned wreck and the driver was groggily trying to get out (big head gash). I was on the phone to the cops/ambulance service to get down ASAP, but no sooner did said driver emerge from the Beemer and tell me not to call the coppers. Then he climbed in the next passing taxi, pissing off and leaving the three birds and the wreck behind. Hmm…

Chaos.