Try riding in China!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by badmambajamba
Hi all, I'm in hangzhou china and you would not believe the level of stupidity, selfishness & outright rudeness here. people most always step onto the road without even looking, drive down the wrong side of the road whenever it suits them, never give right of way to cyclists, cut you off, walk 4 abreast in the cycling lane when theres a sidewalk right next to it, drive in the cycling lane, never slow down at zebra crossings, people or no, oh, and my personal favorite, drive around with their highbeams on at night.
Well, I think this is just about the worst place in the world to cycle, anyone been anywhere worse?

I was in Argentina last fall. Kept my eye out for roadies. Only place i saw any in the Buenos Aires area was several riders training on the FREEWAY!!! to the airport....
Every cab ride I took in that city made a ride at Magic Mountain pale in comparison.

You REALLY must come and ride on the roads in South Africa. It's dicing with death!

Minibus taxis, 90% driven by unlicensed drivers, police-corruption endemic, roads falling into disrepair (read 'potholes'😉 due to government incompetence, the list goes on....

I get my daily adrenalin rush just riding to the local supermarket to buy bread.... 🙄

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by badmambajamba
Hi all, I'm in hangzhou china and you would not believe the level of stupidity, selfishness & outright rudeness here. people most always step onto the road without even looking, drive down the wrong side of the road whenever it suits them, never give right of way to cyclists, cut you off, walk 4 abreast in the cycling lane when theres a sidewalk right next to it, drive in the cycling lane, never slow down at zebra crossings, people or no, oh, and my personal favorite, drive around with their highbeams on at night.
Well, I think this is just about the worst place in the world to cycle, anyone been anywhere worse?

This phenomena is not at all uncommon, and from my travels it seems to be most severe in countries that have a very large percentage of "have-nots"...

The Philippines is a prime example if you want to see THE most horrendous examples of driving and pedestrian activity... In fact, it is standard practice to drive down the road honking constantly when you see someone on the sidewalk because people will just dart out into the street without even looking.

Stop signs are merely suggestions, and if there's a bit of road anywhere a car will attempt to use it.

From the different places in the world I have gone, I've come up with a kind of rule of thumb about driving habits; If you see a situation where normally people might cue up in line; for tickets, help counter, department store, and instead swarm the counter in one giant mass pushing and shoving, odds are that's how they drive as well... and you'd do well to serious reconsider biking there...

Last time in the Philippines an old man pushed his fruitcart across the freeway with cars whizzing by... I think he was trying to find a shortcut, but instead found a shortcut to the afterlife...

Feanor

I have been around a few places. I have not been bike riding anywhere except the US and Japan, but by far the worst traffic (and therfore the worst place to ride) has got to be Taipei (even worse than Bangkok). There isn't a single car there that isn't dented up. If there is an inch of space, someone will try to fit their car into it. Traffic signals and lane markings on the roads are regarded as nothing more than suggestions.

Pedestrians wandering aimlessly into the street? Hah! I used to live in Berkeley, California, home of simultaneously brilliant and stoopid people. It seems that UCB students are under the impression that they are cows in a Hindu country. I was once given a ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian near the university. One of the "cows" stepped right in front of me while looking in the opposite direction (a three times a day type of occurance!). I slammed on the brakes, leaned on the horn, and skidded to a stop as he jumped about 15 feet into the air. When the cop wrote the ticket I explained that had I failed to yield to the idiot, he would have been on top of or under my car. The policeman couldn't follow my logic, so he gave me the ticket anyway. Still, it wasn't a total loss - the look of terror on the dope's face as I stopped was worth every cent the ticket cost me.

I'm a firm believer in common sense. You don't step in front of cars, and you don't ride bicycles where there are no effective traffic laws.

TD

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by tyler_derden
I have been around a few places. I have not been bike riding anywhere except the US and Japan, but by far the worst traffic (and therfore the worst place to ride) has got to be Taipei (even worse than Bangkok). There isn't a single car there that isn't dented up. If there is an inch of space, someone will try to fit their car into it. Traffic signals and lane markings on the roads are regarded as nothing more than suggestions.

Pedestrians wandering aimlessly into the street? Hah! I used to live in Berkeley, California, home of simultaneously brilliant and stoopid people. It seems that UCB students are under the impression that they are cows in a Hindu country. I was once given a ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian near the university. One of the "cows" stepped right in front of me while looking in the opposite direction (a three times a day type of occurance!). I slammed on the brakes, leaned on the horn, and skidded to a stop as he jumped about 15 feet into the air. When the cop wrote the ticket I explained that had I failed to yield to the idiot, he would have been on top of or under my car. The policeman couldn't follow my logic, so he gave me the ticket anyway. Still, it wasn't a total loss - the look of terror on the dope's face as I stopped was worth every cent the ticket cost me.

I'm a firm believer in common sense. You don't step in front of cars, and you don't ride bicycles where there are no effective traffic laws.

TD

I'm not sure I understand what happened there. He stepped out in front of you, you stopped. In what way did you "fail to yield"? Surely "failure to yield" would be if you didn't stop?

Resound said:

I'm not sure I understand what happened there. He stepped out in front of you, you stopped. In what way did you "fail to yield"? Surely "failure to yield" would be if you didn't stop?

I think this is another example of the cop in question just not wanting to be proven wrong... Failure to yield is a very broad category... It can even be borne on the theory that you were travelling to fast in an area where you should have been more cautious... sounds ridiculous of course if you "were" being attentive, but any traffic situation can be "molded" to fit the authorities desires...

Case in point, my brother got a ticket because he rear ended a police car... Both cars were stopped for a pedestrian who was jay walking in front of the police car... The cop began to pull away with my brother also moving forward, but the cop looked down an alleyway suddenly while still accelerating and slammed on his brakes suddenly... My brother tagged the police car on the bumper and subsequently got a ticket for "following too closely" even though there would have been no way any human being would have been able to react quickly enough to stop in time... It wasn't a question of correct spacing because both cars started from a standstill... If he had waited long enough for spacing, the guy behind my brother would have probably honked and then he would have instead gotten a ticket for driving too slow and obstructing the regular flow of traffic:P

Feanor