11.17.07
Chinese Traffic is Unreasonable (so proclaimed by others, not I)
On this cool, drizzly afternoon in Shanghai, I was waiting for the light to change from red to green at a pedestrian crosswalk. As it was, I was on the curb, but 6 people were one step off the curb in the street (which is a cardinal no-no if you’ve ever been in Shanghai). The “Traffic Helper” blew her whistle from afar beckoning everyone to hop one step backward, up onto the curb. Four complied. The two nearest me, two middle aged Shanghaiese ladies, stood oblivious. The traffic helper approached, her whistle getting louder as the distance between her and us was reduced and her blowing intensity increased. Finally the traffic assistant was 2 feet from their faces blowing the whistle but to no avail.
SHTig, rather than cover the ears, opted to excoriate the women for ignoring the helper. They ignored me but pointed out to the helper that the intersection had red lights in all directions for pedestrians (which was because traffic had a green arrow to make left turns, making all pedestrian crosswalks unsafe for pedestrians).
The helper yelled something at them in Shanghaiese, they yelled back, and SHTig took it from there, offering a 难道你们需要一个外国人给你们说明中国的交通规则”. By this time we were finally crossing the street. One lady replied “中国交通不合理”, to which I got in that the traffic helper ”说了算，不是你说了算”, before splitting directions (the ladies were at least cautious enough toward me that I didn’t get into I’m-gonna-drive-a-point-home-and-stalk-you-for-a-few-blocks-discussing-this mode.
And so this is how it often is in China, if people don’t agree or understand rules, chances are the rules will be broken. Actually the lady was right, Chinese traffic is unreasonable, and it’s also dangerous, which is why some intersections are staffed with up to 4 traffic helpers each.
Proposed solution: empower traffic assistants with the ability to make citation to pedestrians and motorists (would *love* to see motorists who blow through an intersection to make a right hand turn when pedestrians have a green walk sign fined). For pedestrians who disobey, I think even a 5 yuan citation would help cut down on jay-walking and flipancy towards traffic helpers’ instructions.
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