Chinese drivers are the worst!

The inevitable has happened. After almost a year straight in China and all the times I’ve been here before, I’ve finally been in a taxi accident. It’s a bit overdue, and I feel as though its a right of passage to really "living" in China. That’s not to say it wasn’t one of the most terrifying things that’s ever happened to me.

I was on the way home from a fun party with some old SH friends and about a block from my apartment when the incident happened. We were stopped at a stoplight just before the turn to my apartment when WHAM, my head knocked against the side of the car and just outside my passenger door window was a blue construction truck ramming the side of the taxi. My memory is blurry, but I even think the side of the car came of the ground. I was sliding to the other side of the cab when the truck finally stopped. I was terrified. All I could do was sit and make sure my head was OK and then, in girly fashion, start crying. I can count on one hand the number of car accidents I’ve been in, but being in one in China was a lot different.

Still in shock, the taxi driver asked if I was ok and if I “had time.” I guess he wanted me to stick around and talk to the police. I sat in the car for about 5 minutes unsure of what to do. Once the cab driver realized I just wanted to go home and that my Chinese probably wasn’t too good enough to talk to anyone, he said I should just go home. Luckily I was totally fine. But the experience was a definite reminder of what I’ve thought all along – that a lot of Chinese drivers are idiots.

The quality of drivers is definitely better in Shanghai – mainly the taxi drivers. They obey traffic signs and seem to know what they’re doing when navigating crowded streets more so than in Nanjing (+1 Shanghai), but you also get a lot of out-of-towners who have no clue what they’re doing, probably like that moron truck driver.

On the way to Changzhou and the dino amusement park with Ellen and her family, I remember fearing for my life a few times. Her dad is the worst driver I have ever ridden with, and that’s saying a lot with some of the idiots I’ve been in cars with. Her dad got lost and reversed on highways, stopped for minutes at a time on exit ramps to read maps and even drove without headlights for much of the night on the way back to Nanjing – a surprisingly common mishap among drivers. Seriously, I don’t know how more people don’t die in car accidents in China.

One time, a taxi driver asked if I ever drove in China. I replied with a strong “No way.” I tried to explain that Chinese drivers are much different than American drivers. He seemed to know and understand what I was talking about. If even the taxi drivers know that Chinese drivers are bad, then all the more reason to stay off the roads.