Comment
Unbuckled dangers
By Joseph Christian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-08 08:03
 |
Large Medium Small |
Horn blaring, another car whooshed past as my driver wove through traffic, our car rushing down the highway like a spinning top. Stiff with fear, I scrounged through the backseat looking for a seatbelt.
"You're nuts! Where's the seatbelt?" I yelled.
But Feng, the driver, merely stomped on the accelerator and burst into the incoming lane.
Ahead all I could see was a bus bearing down on us. The bus driver rapidly flashed his lights, obviously startled that Feng was attempting to pass. There just wasn't enough room, but Feng didn't seem to mind the challenge at all. Instead, he lifted one hand from the wheel and coolly lit another cigarette. My life flashed before my eyes.
It triggered a fitting memory. Suddenly I was a skinny, brace-mouthed 16-year-old sitting in a large auditorium attending a driver's ed class. The instructor, a short, pudgy, bald man, knew how to scare students.
"See that," he said hoarsely, pointing at a picture of a battered and lifeless body lying in the middle of a road.
There were a few gasps and one girl in the back gagged. A couple boys in front thought the carnage was pretty cool. But most of my classmates stared on in horror.
The projector clicked as the instructor changed slides. Now we were looking at a broken and bloodied windshield. "Can anyone put two and two together?" my teacher asked.
I sheepishly put up my hand and answered, "He didn't wear a seatbelt?"
"That's right!" the teacher's voice boomed. "If you don't wear your seatbelt, you're going to end up just like this joker ... as a road pancake!"
As my head bumped against the side window, I was jolted back to the present in Feng's car. I looked up and saw we had just passed the truck that was slowing us but the bus still loomed ahead. I clenched my fists. It looked like I was about to become a road pancake.
Finally, satisfied with a long drag on his cigarette, Feng placed his hand back on the wheel and violently swerved back into our lane. I had come within a meter of losing my life. Needless to say, that was my last ride with Feng.
According to recent statistics, it is estimated that more than 100,000 people die every year in China because of traffic collisions, accounting for 15 percent of all traffic fatalities in the world. With cities such as Beijing adding thousands of cars daily, it seems this number is only destined to grow.
The statistics are dire but the situation is far from hopeless. A lot of those deaths are preventable. All you got to do is buckle up. Chinese people know that seatbelts save lives. They also know it is the law for drivers and front seat passengers to buckle up.
Shockingly, most refuse to wear them. A recent study of Beijing taxi drivers found that an amazing 92 percent do not wear seatbelts. Of those, 35 percent throw the seatbelt across their bodies but do not buckle it.
One day I turned to a taxi driver and asked him, "Why don't you just buckle it in?" He let out a hearty laugh. "Do you know how uncomfortable these things are?" he shot back. "Besides, as long as it looks like I'm wearing one the police will never stop me."
In talking with Chinese people about the issue it seems that many have notions of invincibility. One friend who doesn't wear a seatbelt when he drives simply told me: "I am a lucky boy. I am not going to get into an accident."
"In the city you can't drive too fast," a young Chinese woman said. "Even if you get into an accident it will be a small one and you won't get hurt."
If only thinkful wishing could protect you in a traffic accident.
Although Beijing has had many programs to increase seatbelt usage, the message just isn't getting across.
Maybe it's time for hard-nosed teachers armed with pictures of road pancakes to convince Beijingers to buckle up. If all else fails, just take a ride with Mr Feng.
