From the Readers
Abnormally dangerous situation
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-08 07:52
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Comment on Liu Shinan's column "Road tragedies scream for ethics and rules" (China Daily, Sept 15)
After re-reading the column, questions began to develop in my mind. First, there is no mention of whether the offender was caught or not. Since the crime has been caught on camera and the license plate number of the vehicle involved is a BMW X6 SUV, one would assume that the driver would be held quickly. Second, where were this young boy's parents or caretakers at the time of the accident?
Beyond this puzzling account of the crime, I found some parts of the column very informative on the current state of safety on modern China's roads. Because of the newfound affluence among an ever-growing section of Chinese, the country must now deal with the downside of having a huge number of first-time drivers on the roads.
I particularly enjoyed the way the columnist illustrated the psychological aspects of feeling insulated from the rest of the world in one's own vehicle. I'm sure that this feeling of empowerment is not limited to Chinese, but the exponential growth of registered drivers in China makes for an abnormally dangerous situation.
Ryan Burke, via e-mail
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