TIC (This is China)

[chinabiker]

twisted minds indeed.. back to the TIC thread..

No good deed goes unpunished. Well, you can stretch that a bit more. Read this>> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...am-minter.html

I've heard stories before, but reading this was a shock.

Shocking but reality. I guess that many of us experienced similar situations.
I was driving my car to work on Jingcheng expwy with 3 of my Chinese colleagues when we witnessed an accident half a kilometer ahead of us. As I attempted to stop, all 3 desperately shouted at me not to stop but to move on, just because they were afraid that the other driver would later report to Police that I caused the crash.
Sadly, THIS is China today.

[MissRose]

This is just horrible, but yea I guess we've seen it all.... We were thinking about guerilla charity: drive them off to the hospital, bump them on the steps, under no circomstances enter the building or speak to anyone, do not bring your paspoort, mask your face and leg it as soon as possible!

[euphonius]

Lest anyone come to the conclusion that China is a moral vacuum, I'd like to share a story.

On 25 November 2010, American Thanksgiving as it happens, I was bicycling through Shanghai's Zhabei district, returning from a visit with my orthopedist at Changhai Hospital. It's a long slog, nearly an hour each way, but the weather was fine, and I was cranking along at high speed. The bicycle path narrowed, with curb to the right and a typical iron barrier to the left, and I could sense a motor scooter behind me. Sure enough, he started blowing his horn, as if to say, "Get out of my fucking way."

Though angered by his impatience, I was ready to comply, but couldn't tell if he was to my left rear or right rear, and did not want to risk swerving into his path has he passed me. So I looked right and slowly began moving right. He squirted through the narrow gap on my left, and clipped my handlebar with his. I was probably doing 35-40kph. I'm not sure of the physics that sent me down on my right rather than my left, but I went down hard, and my right temple hit the curb at full force, knocking me cold. I don't think I was out long, maybe 15 seconds, but this was a first true bell-ringer for me, and I struggled to regain understanding of where I was going, what I was doing and where I'd been. I sat up on the curb, and had the sense to check my titanium-plated clavicle to see if it was refractured.

It was then that I noticed a guy at my side, about my age, seeming concerned. A cop hovered over me. Soon an ambulance arrived, and I climbed in under my own power. The guy by my side did too. In the ambulance, he explained that he was the motorcyclist, and apologized profusely for causing the crash. He said he'd installed new pogies (glove-like insulated hand guards that envelope the grips) and didn't realise these added 2-3 cm to the bike's width.

He said he'd told the police that it was 100% his fault, and would take full responsibility. Which he did. Though he was a low-salary delivery rider for a small pharmaceutical company, he paid cash for everything -- the ambulance, registration at the hospital, the X-rays and CT scan, and he sat with me for several hours. Finally, he accompanied me first to the police station to complete the paperwork on the crash, then to the impound yard where his and my bike had been taken. He paid the impound fee, and handed me a couple hundred more RMB to get me home.

I thanked him, and I took my leave, mounting my bike and riding, against my better judgment, another 45 minutes to Kaiba for a Thanksgiving dinner. He called me several times over the next few days to ask how I was.

Though I've been in China for 21 years, I cannot say whether what he did was normal. But it renewed my faith we should not be writing China off quite yet.

TTIC. This too is China.

PS -- No, I was not wearing a helmet. But I now wear one every time I ride, whether bicycle or motorcycle.

cheers!

[MissRose]

Thank you for this heart warming story!

[ZMC888]

Actually these stories are quite common. The reason is, it the cheapest way to deal with incidents is to either 1. Run (risks imprisonment if caught and huge fine) 2. Admit fault and pay ASAP. Long drawn out arguments over who is at fault just get more expensive espcially if the police get involved.

But still that guy did the right thing, and I'd like to believe that the majority of Chinese people wold do that too.

[chinabiker]

Hebei
64 Kids in a school bus!

[Fred]

Lest anyone come to the conclusion that China is a moral vacuum, I'd like to share a story.

On 25 November 2010, American Thanksgiving as it happens, I was bicycling through Shanghai's Zhabei district, returning from a visit with my orthopedist at Changhai Hospital. It's a long slog, nearly an hour each way, but the weather was fine, and I was cranking along at high speed. The bicycle path narrowed, with curb to the right and a typical iron barrier to the left, and I could sense a motor scooter behind me. Sure enough, he started blowing his horn, as if to say, "Get out of my fucking way."

Though angered by his impatience, I was ready to comply, but couldn't tell if he was to my left rear or right rear, and did not want to risk swerving into his path has he passed me. So I looked right and slowly began moving right. He squirted through the narrow gap on my left, and clipped my handlebar with his. I was probably doing 35-40kph. I'm not sure of the physics that sent me down on my right rather than my left, but I went down hard, and my right temple hit the curb at full force, knocking me cold. I don't think I was out long, maybe 15 seconds, but this was a first true bell-ringer for me, and I struggled to regain understanding of where I was going, what I was doing and where I'd been. I sat up on the curb, and had the sense to check my titanium-plated clavicle to see if it was refractured.

It was then that I noticed a guy at my side, about my age, seeming concerned. A cop hovered over me. Soon an ambulance arrived, and I climbed in under my own power. The guy by my side did too. In the ambulance, he explained that he was the motorcyclist, and apologized profusely for causing the crash. He said he'd installed new pogies (glove-like insulated hand guards that envelope the grips) and didn't realise these added 2-3 cm to the bike's width.

He said he'd told the police that it was 100% his fault, and would take full responsibility. Which he did. Though he was a low-salary delivery rider for a small pharmaceutical company, he paid cash for everything -- the ambulance, registration at the hospital, the X-rays and CT scan, and he sat with me for several hours. Finally, he accompanied me first to the police station to complete the paperwork on the crash, then to the impound yard where his and my bike had been taken. He paid the impound fee, and handed me a couple hundred more RMB to get me home.

I thanked him, and I took my leave, mounting my bike and riding, against my better judgment, another 45 minutes to Kaiba for a Thanksgiving dinner. He called me several times over the next few days to ask how I was.

Though I've been in China for 21 years, I cannot say whether what he did was normal. But it renewed my faith we should not be writing China off quite yet.

TTIC. This too is China.

PS -- No, I was not wearing a helmet. But I now wear one every time I ride, whether bicycle or motorcycle.

cheers!

I did not see this before. Thanks Euphonius for the story. You've been in China for a long time, and know too well that we don't see this kind of behavior every day in the streets. I would have loved to witness this and to try to thank this guy and tell him that he did the right thing (whatever his motivations were).

Let me share with you all 1 story, amongst dozens I can think of :
a few years ago my girlfriend got a torn ACL in one of her knees. She had surgery in Shanghai and was walking with crutches for several weeks, at the beginning with a big visible knee bandage. One rainy morning, just in front of our building, she's desperately trying to flag down a taxi, but we know how difficult it is in rainy days in Shanghai... Because she could not run with the crutches, several persons stole the taxis in front of her by running towards the taxis, of course fully aware that she was here and that she could not run.
Up to this point, you will say "oh, typical from Shanghai, they even steal the taxis from pregnant women the same way...", but wait, it gets worse...

One Chinese woman in her 30s arrives at the same spot, looking for a taxi too. At the same time a taxi finally stops in front of my g/f, she grabs the door handle when suddenly the Chinese woman pushes her (my g/f was on crutches !) to take the taxi. Seeing the scene, the taxi driver decides that the situation will be "mafan" and just leaves. My g/f was amazed, the Chinese woman was so upset to lose the taxi that she looked at my g/f bandaged knee and started hitting with her leg and foot, right on her knee ! My g/f had to protect herself with the crutches and tried to push her away. After several minutes fighting, the parents of the Chinese woman arrived, and took their daughter away, but insulting my g/f at the same time, even though they didn't really know what happened !
Needless to say, I was literally enraged when my g/f called me to tell me the story... If I would have been there, the Chinese woman would have ended up at the hospital, it's certainly best I wasn't here... Fortunately my g/f succeeded to protect herself quite well, she only received 3 to 4 blows directly on the knee, which held up quite ok.

But who on earth could assault an injured person, right on the visible injury, just because of a taxi ???

But do you know what happened the very next morning ? It was raining again, my g/f was again desperately trying to find a taxi with her crutches when a Chinese man spotted her in the street, went to the next crossroad, under the rain, to find a taxi, and brought the taxi just in front of her....
After what we see sometimes in China and what she experienced the day before, she was crying, so happy to see someone so considerate, so helpful...

[Nuhaus]

a Chinese man spotted her in the street, went to the next crossroad, under the rain, to find a taxi, and brought the taxi just in front of her....
After what we see sometimes in China and what she experienced the day before, she was crying, so happy to see someone so considerate, so helpful...

Wow.

People like that just serve to reinforce how much work I need to do on correcting my negative stereotypes.

[Pal]

Another Chinese moron driver: http://shanghaiist.com/2011/09/20/my...r_exp.php#more

Ride safe! PAL

[Pal]

another day - another Chinese moron driver! Ride safe, PAL


Sedan driver who mowed down 4 scooters turns himself in
SHANGHAI DAILY NEWSPAPER 2011-9-21

The hit-and-run driver whose sedan knocked down four scooters, killing one man and injuring three others on Monday night has turned himself in, city police said this afternoon.

The 21-year-old offender surnamed Luo got his driving license in March and borrowed the BMW 320i from a friend to drive for fun, but he wasn't familiar with the car and lost control driving at high speed, Pudong police said.

Luo surrendered to police last night and is now in criminal detention as police investigation is ongoing.

The accident happened at 7:55pm on Jinjing Road in Pudong. Luo made a right turn from Jiahong to Jinjing and lost control of the SUV which mowed down four scooters on the road. But the car did not stop. It knocked down a tree and crashed into a factory gate.

One scooter driver got entangled under the SUV and died on the spot. The other three suffered injuries to their spine, thigh and head respectively.

Luo fled the scene after the crash.

Police said they identified Luo as the driver yesterday through investigation and called his family to persuade him to turn in.