Traffic woes

William Shakespeare once wrote "The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in the stars, but in ourselves." Half a century ago, my high school English teacher got grey hair trying to teach me what Shakespeare meant. Well, today I realize that Mr S was speaking about the Shanghai/China traffic problem.

Don't blame the drivers. Everyone who uses the roads must learn and obey the law (if any) and the unwritten "rules of the road". The examples are numerous. The driver who makes a U-turn in the middle of a pedestrian crosswalk. The pedestrian who walks down the middle of the driving lane. The cyclist who rides against traffic. The builders who use the sidewalk as their private storage/construction site, forcing the pedestrians into the road. The shopowner who props opens the invisible glass door so that it extends 15-20 cm into the sidewalk. The fruit sellers who set up shops on the sidewalk forcing the pedestrians onto the street.

The solution begins at home and in the schools. Children should be taught the safety rules (red light, crosswalk, stay to the right). Older children should be taught bicycle safety. In the US, the police and the schools do this. Drivers should be taught law in addition to driving skills. (A good friend here spent 3,000 yuan (US$361) in two months and learned to drive. Traffic law was not included in the training.) The law must allow the police to enforce traffic regulations.

Don't blame "the other guy", take some responsibility for yourself. Red really does mean "stop" for cars, cyclists and pedestrians. Not "maybe".

John Ingersoll

Hangzhou