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Simple cab ride highlights what’s wrong with drivers
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It was a weekday. I didn’t ride my scooter as usual because the garage at my office building was being renovated so I decided to hail a cab.
According to my precise calculation the trip would cost me up to 15 yuan (US$2.41).
It didn’t take long to flag down a cab. The ride was nice and the weather was fine. The Santana 4000 seemingly flew along Jianguo Rd W. and turned onto Xiangyang Road.
Everything was going smoothly and we were making good time. One block away from Julu Road and my destination, everything changed.
The cabbie suddenly braked hard and honked the horn. A car in front of us was doing a U-turn. The driver wore earphones and was speaking excitedly into a microphone.
I could see three mobile phones installed on the dashboard. My cabbie told me he was very likely running an Uber-like business and had just received an order through a mobile app.
“The customer was probably in the opposite direction so that’s why he turned around,” my cabbie said.
But did he have to block traffic? He could have easily pulled over to the side of the road and waited for traffic to clear before turning around. He didn’t. And neither do most other drivers in this city. They just turn whenever and wherever they feel like it.
Do they ever spare a thought for anyone else on the road? Doesn’t seem like it.
To make matters worse, another car drove the wrong way into the opposite lane and parked to buy some breakfast from a food vendor. This prevented the first driver from being able to do the U-turn.
Chaos
The whole street was jammed because of two drivers. Chaos ensued as other drivers lost patience and honked their car horns and people shouted at the two drivers to move.
It never ceases to amaze me at how humans excel at getting caught in traps of our own making. I had but 100 meters left until my destination. It took around 20 minutes to cover the distance and my cab fare ticked up to 25 yuan.
There was no police officer around and it seemed as though neither would be punished as I was told no surveillance cameras were installed in the area.
Shanghai’s traffic jams are all too common, but I don’t think they are inevitable.
Good driving manners are what our drivers need. Road rage was a foreign phrase to many of us a decade ago, but now it happens at almost every corner in our city every day.
It’s easy to spot cars hogging two lanes, vehicles failing to stop at a red light and others taking up two parking spaces.
A city of 6,000 square kilometers with around 3 million vehicles cannot afford such selfish behavior from its drivers. So it’s good to hear the city’s traffic police department has been taking action since the end of May.
At some exits along the city’s elevated ring roads, cameras caught more than 10,000 traffic offenses. Drivers were penalized and the car plates were displayed on electronic street signs above roads.
More cameras are needed to detect traffic violations.
Harsher punishments are needed to dissuade drivers from breaking the rules. It works. Last month fewer offenses were caught at intersections where cameras were installed, according to the traffic police department.
I think we can apply this model everywhere in the city.
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