Riding Safe in China - New Rider Guide

[alonzomerrill]

All people know about china and i also like to this country. If are riding in china then you should follow rules riding otherwise it can make accident. I always read about accident in china because most of people not follow the rules of driving. If you have more detail of china traffic rules then i will like to learn more about it.

[MotoKai]

[QUOTE=MotoKai;15846]Great motorcycle website from Victoria, Australia - Spokes.
It's a cool Flash site which makes it super-user-friendly, and has a great info on Rider Safety, Tips, Info on Protective Clothing (incl. info on European Standards).
Spokes Website: /QUOTE]

Spokes has updated their website (cooler graphics and more info on Rider Safety).
Also, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation has a great downloadable BASIC RIDER COURSE PDF HERE for new and experienced riders.

[euphonius]

OK this story is about railroad safety, not road safety, until you get to the final sobering paragraph. With the riding season upon us, and so many newb drivers behind the wheel mixing it up with aggressive veterans, we in China should be thinking about safety at all times. So I thought it appropriate to bump Motokai's sticky thread.

Be careful out there!

April 10, 2013
China’s Former Rail Minister Is Charged With Corruption
By KEITH BRADSHER
HONG KONG — China’s former railways minister, reviled by state-run media and many Chinese bloggers after a deadly high-speed train crash in the summer of 2011 and lurid allegations of high living, has been formally charged with corruption and abuse of power, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.


Xinhua said the Beijing People’s Procuratorate had filed the charges against the railways minister, Liu Zhijun, in a city court. No officials could be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon in telephone calls to the procuratorate, which is a combined investigation and prosecution office, and to the court.


Mr. Liu was removed from his position in February 2011, five months before the crash, after reports that he had embezzled $152 million over the years. His dismissal fanned emerging worries that the quality and safety of the country’s vast high-speed rail program had been compromised by haste and corruption during construction.


Those worries greatly increased when a high-speed train plowed into the back of another train on a viaduct during a lightning storm in Wenzhou, in east-central China, on July 23, 2011, killing 40 and injuring 191. A subsequent inquiry found that serious flaws in the design of the signaling system had contributed to a failure to warn the trailing train that another train had been delayed in front of it.


The crash fed increasingly heated commentary about Mr. Liu’s lifestyle before his removal from office, despite government efforts to limit the discussion. A leaked directive from the Central Propaganda Bureau ordered all news media “not to report or hype the news that Liu Zhijun had 18 mistresses.”


Mr. Liu has been in detention for many months and could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Members of the Chinese Communist Party who are accused of crimes sometimes face a harsh detention with few legal protections.


The Wenzhou crash prompted a lengthy national debate in China over the wisdom of the country’s heavy investment in high-speed rail. With the first line opening shortly before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the country had produced a national network with 5,814 miles of track in service by the end of last year.


But rapid expansion left the Ministry of Railways saddled with debts of nearly $645 billion. The National People’s Congress took steps last month to dismantle the ministry, which previously had a broad range of administrative and even police functions in addition to operating trains.


A recent spate of intercity bus crashes includes at least two with roughly the same number of deaths as the train crash nearly two years ago, but the bus crashes have drawn far less attention. With poorly designed roads, numerous pedestrians and many new drivers, China has a death rate per million registered automobiles that is 6 to 20 times as high as in the United States.

[Kernalpanx]

I am aggressive when needed use my horn constantly until they cock their head turn or just swerve. I pass wide and quickly give a safe distance. I look for drivers eyes in mirrors if windows are not tinted. Usually when they notice I am a foreigner they give me safe distance. But once or twice I get an aggressive driver. I mount a go pro and tape my rides. I was a bike messenger in university in New York Berlin London and Toronto ( including winters) ... I thought I had seen it all. For a country that demands high education and academics .... Why so many stupid people. Just saying.
The other thing I noticed is no one knows what a blind spot is.... Wtf!!! I constantly check my blind spot. I also find staying out of the "bike" lane is safer ... Riding aggressively on the left lane and using acceleration to get past the idiots and passing on the left seems to put me in less danger.... I keep and eye out for miss daisy and her 12 lane sudden no look right turn. Knowing your streets and exits and remembering bottle necks seems to be the best type of riding here. Also use the horn!!! As much as possible as a signalling device. Long honks are the least given attention many short bursts seem to get the most notice. Just my thoughts on the whole thing.
Basically driver education is none existent ... Caring for another human being none existent ... Think that all drivers have tunnel vision do not know how to use a mirror or work a signal ....have a exit plan at all times. You should be cool .... Go pro is on my helmet ... They see it and smile and wave a lot or roll up their tinted windows and back off.

[prince666]

That the way to go ???? "GO-PRO" http://gopro.com/ you cant beat it cost from $300 but beleave me it is the best thing to have on your bike and car 1 week ago rideing my bike dick head chinese bike rider 2 up on far right lane just turns left with out looking right in front of me i hit them SQ on nocked the 2 of there bike lady hurt bad ,the man a few cuts and me all ok my bike nocked up a bit ... poilce came loads of friends of the chinese riders was ganging up agains me saying i was riding to fast and that the other riders done fuck all wrong ??? so i say northing at this time looked very bad for me ??? did not tell them about the Gopro on my bike untill my wife turned up and i told her to bring the laptop with her ??? when all the talking was done from the other side the police come up to me and said i am in deep shit ??? asked why and was told that it is all my fault ??? based on the imfore from all the other people around who said i see what happen ??? ok can i shown you what happen now ???? the police looked at me very strange so out came the ladtop put the card from the Gopro in and played back the video well you should of seen the look on the 2 police man faces with great shock to them all what the other people had told them was 100% lies The police men was not happy i could see and told me not to worrie the police went back to the other bike and some very loud talking was takeing place between the police and all the other people for some reason most people left at this point i wonder why lol then the police came back over and told me the other rides have changes their story of events ... and told the police that there was in the far right lane and did not look and cut across the lanes with out looking or indicating .... i got paid out in full 2000 rmb and did not have to pay northing to the other people so get your self a GoPro lads it will save your bacon as it did in my case

[ZMC888]

Great addition I added this quote of yours to my original narrative because it's so good: '

Think that all drivers have tunnel vision do not know how to use a mirror or work a signal'. ...have a exit plan at all times.

I credited you too, great stuff.

[euphonius]

Dear Prince666,

Great post! Thanks for the horror story with the happy ending. Couple of questions/comments:

• Are you saying you just keep the camera running at all times when riding?
  
• How big is your memory card and what video settings are you using?
• How many minutes/hours of video can it hold?
• Can you program the camera to write over earlier video so that you always have the most recent footage at hand?
• Or do you have to manage that by hand, i.e., erasing the card before every ride?
• (Or does the US National Security Agency just archive it for you? They seem to archive everything else...)
• Have you posted the video of this recent collision on a video sharing site so we can all have a gander?
• Any chance of using a bit more punctuation in your posts to make them less difficult to read?
• How was the the 2000 rmb in compensation determined, and was it adequate to cover your repairs and medical expenses?

Thanks!
euphonius

[ZMC888]

That the way to go ???? "GO-PRO" http://gopro.com/ you cant beat it cost from $300 but beleave me it is the best thing to have on your bike and car 1 week ago rideing my bike dick head chinese bike rider 2 up on far right lane just turns left with out looking right in front of me i hit them SQ on nocked the 2 of there bike lady hurt bad ,the man a few cuts and me all ok my bike nocked up a bit ... poilce came loads of friends of the chinese riders was ganging up agains me saying i was riding to fast and that the other riders done fuck all wrong ??? so i say northing at this time looked very bad for me ??? did not tell them about the Gopro on my bike untill my wife turned up and i told her to bring the laptop with her ??? when all the talking was done from the other side the police come up to me and said i am in deep shit ??? asked why and was told that it is all my fault ??? based on the imfore from all the other people around who said i see what happen ??? ok can i shown you what happen now ???? the police looked at me very strange so out came the ladtop put the card from the Gopro in and played back the video well you should of seen the look on the 2 police man faces with great shock to them all what the other people had told them was 100% lies The police men was not happy i could see and told me not to worrie the police went back to the other bike and some very loud talking was takeing place between the police and all the other people for some reason most people left at this point i wonder why lol then the police came back over and told me the other rides have changes their story of events ... and told the police that there was in the far right lane and did not look and cut across the lanes with out looking or indicating .... i got paid out in full 2000 rmb and did not have to pay northing to the other people so get your self a GoPro lads it will save your bacon as it did in my case

Added go-pro to suggestions....

[Kernalpanx]

Great addition I added this quote of yours to my original narrative because it's so good: ' I credited you too, great stuff.

thank you sir. .... well i was a cycle messenger on and off for a few years after university as well. it let me see the world and work and explore cities. you just learn to have your eyes peeled and darting... i watch traffic and pedestrians like i am a crack addict looking for my next score.
I hate wearing a motorcycle helmet because you can not hear what is around you like you can on a bike.
My famous quote i have been credited for.... if a car or truck door opens in front of you, aim for the soft spot..... the person getting out. I have been door prized once.... that guy saved my life and me from breaking any bones.... him not so lucky... thanks and ride safe. i use a 64 Gb card and reformat it weekly with my gopro. Only used the footage once in Toronto.... bumper to bumper traffic on the 401 highway no one moving. guy backs into my brand new Nissan Pathfinder... says it is my fault. asks me to pay and we can forget it. i say call the chips.... show the video... then cops check .... his story changed. video ended up on the news. 15 other people had the same thing happen to them with the same guy.

[prince666]

Did take a few pictures on my Iphone


smash.jpgsmash2.jpgsmash3.jpg




AS you can see the road was empty nice and long no other cars about that probably why the othe bike rider did not look why should they ????

But please look at the face of the lady rider loads of pain hope it hurt love sorry to say i hit her hard on her leg with my front wheel the old saying is "No pain No gain" well in this case we hope the gain is knowledge ... The knowledge to look first ????


so as i said its not IF it will happen to you it is just a case of WHEN ....


so drive safe


steve