E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Frederic J. Brown / AFP - Getty Images
Bystanders gather to watch as a policeman takes a closer look at an injured man lying on the road beside his electric bicycle in Beijing on April 5. It was not known whether the cyclist was hit by a vehicle which fled the scene, or if he collapsed on his own, but an ambulance arrived moments later to take the injured man away.
Frederic J. Brown / AFP - Getty Images
An injured cyclist is taken away by paramedics in Beijing on April 5.
China's roads are among the world's most dangerous, with widespread flouting of traffic laws leaving almost 70,000 people dead from road accidents in 2009, or around 190 fatalities a day, according to police statistics cited by AFP.
As long ago as 2001, Philip Pan of the Washington Post declared that the bicycle was no longer king of the road in China. Pan recounted how "China's fascination with the bicycle began in the late 19th century, when two Americans pedaled from Constantinople to Peking on a pair of Humber bicycles with diamond-pattern frames. Crowds greeted them in village after village, describing the strange vehicle as 'a foreign horse'
and 'a little mule that you drive by the ears and kick in the sides to make him go'."
A few weeks ago, Evan Osnos of the New Yorker revisited Pan's analysis in a blog post on his own experiences riding the bike lanes of Beijing.
Leave a Comment:
When I first saw the pictures I thought the guy was dead, you know, the chalk outline? In America when they put a chalk outline around a body that means they are dead, right? Maybe not, I guess I watched too many cop shows.
I find Beijing to be a very pleasant megapolis to travel on my bicycle, in comparison to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Shanghai.
The camera's monitoring the roads 24/7, most likely captured the cars license plate if not the driver's image. But it might take a substantial amount of money to get justice!
I travel close to 30km/day on my bicycle in Beijing. I have found Beijing to be a much safer place to ride than in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley or Shanghai.
Furthermore, traffic does stop for pedestrians and bicycles here, unlike in any of the above locations. Cameras monitor the streets so the car's license plate and images of the driver are in the government's possession.
The lanes are still dangerous. If your dead then the cameras do not really matter... The laws are less relaxed on traffic violations and the fines are very low compared to what someone can pay for a car. ($30 or so)