The email sent will contain a link to this article, the article title, and an article excerpt (if available). For security reasons, your IP address will also be included in the sent email.
In China, they have to learn to drive like ass. In Boston, driving like ass requires almost no training at all.
Photo courtesy of www.chinadriversexam.blogspot.com
Peter Hessler’s article in the November 26 New Yorker about his driving experiences in China was closely studied by cultural research group at drivinglikeass.com. Hessler tells us that China has only 3% of the world’s vehicles and yet accounts for 21% of the world’s traffic fatalities. Knowing this raised hopes here at DLA that, in China, we had a driving populace possibly more reprobate than that of Boston, the similarities to which might provide the basis for new comparisons and insights.
In China, he tells us, such things as turn signals, windshield wipers, and headlights are considered to be distractions to the typical motorist. That sounded like Boston. And, in China, honking is a critical driving skill and, to some extent, mirrors the Chinese language itself with different tonal qualities and meanings. Well, that’s not so different than Boston, although in Boston, honking lacks the richness of Chinese language and most honking translates as some variation of “Moveyerass!” or “Upyers!” or “Moveyerass upyers!”
Return to Article