Hongkong part 2 - predictive driving

Today I have been visiting a supplier I think outside Shenzhen, the cities here are so big I am not sure it it is Shenzhen or not but anyway, that was not the main topic of todays post. We went to the supplier by car, my colleague from our office here driving. I felt safe the whole way and was not sick at all. But OMG the driving skills of the people in this country, and then it is pretty safe here compared to Shanghai and Beijing. It seems like the only rule is to give way to everyone in front of you, I think people here develope a sense of where all the cars are going, hence the term predictive driving (I actually came up with that one myself, I am kind of happy with it =). The reasons to why you have to be predictive are many and I will name but a few important ones.

1. Indicators are unecessary, a waste of time and wrist motion, when the people behind you knows where you are going anyway you dont need to use any indicator. In case you are a bit unsure just beep to get the attention of the other drivers.

2. Try to drive across as many lanes as possible! It is preferrable if you can be in between 2 lanes, if you cant then at least drive on or as close as possible to the line, if you can pick the line closest to the car currently overtaking you that is the best option.

3. If you need to make a U-turn, try to cross as many lanes as possible on the way, of course dont use your indicator, trust the drivers around you to understand where you are going. And if you can do it when there is a red light you get bonus points.

4. Motorbikes, electric bikes, and normal bikes drive in the opposite direction of the rest of the cars, and they prefer to squeeze in between a row of parked cars and moving traffic, driving almost fast enough not to start wobbling on their bike, also preferrably with at least one passenger or carrying a load that is wide enough to stretch over 2 lanes.

5. Last but not least, take your number plate off your car, in that way you wont get caught by speed cameras and apparently the police doesnt really give rats about it anyway, they have better things to do than chase people speeding.

This list is all but complete, all I can say is that I am very happy that my colleague is a safe driver and I wasnt worried once on the roads. Well done Tony because I will never ever ever be sitting behind the steering wheel in a car in China!