driving

when crossing the street in Qingdao, one always has to look both ways before crossing the street, even if the street is one way or an alley. For example, the road in front of our apartment is a one-way road, with a big arrow painted in the middle of it saying what direction to go, yet regularly (meaning almost once a day) we see cars driving the wrong way down the street. This makes crossing the street somewhat difficult, especially as cars speed up when they see pedestrians instead of slowing down. I heard that if there is an accident, it is assumed to be the pedestrian's fault, so it doesn't really give cars impetus to slow down. Also, cars seem to be in an incredible hurry, which is ironic because the general craziness of the driving means that most roads are chronically clogged in traffic jams. Indeed, as Dan says, it seems like the driving is more reckless than fast. The other problem is that stoplights are apparently a fairly new thing in Qingdao, and some drivers seem to see them as optional. That means that even if the oncoming traffic has a red light, that doesn't necessarily mean that cars won't come whizzing by at about 50 miles an hour. We live behind Qingdao university, and at the entrance of the university there is a large gate with a paved taxi drop-off area. The area is marked off from the street by a large cross-walk, but I have seen cars, when there is a red light, speed up and drive on the cross-walk (as pedestrians jump out of the way) and then, with out slowing down a single bit, merge into traffic without looking and cut several people off. Cars use their horns the way ambulances use sirens, generally beeping at anything even remotely close. Sometimes in the busier parts of the city, cars drive and park on the sidewalk, so it is possible to be walking down the sidewalk and hear a beep from behind, only to turn around and find a black mercedes about 3 feet behind you. Even though the traffic is crazy, it is possible to kind of figure out a rhythm for crossing, or at least do what the other Chinese pedestrians do.

About 2 days ago though, we walked by an accident where a pedestrian was hit by a taxi which had been turning onto a small side street without stopping or slowing down. The man lay motionless on the ground, and an ambulance and large crowd stood around. It was a sobering reminder that figuring out how to cross the street most times doesn't make us invincible, and we always need to be on our guard