From the Washington Post:
Most people in this country of 1.3 billion still do not own a car. For example, in Beijing, a city of 16 million people, there are just slightly more than 3 million cars.
But car ownership in China has grown by 300 percent in just six years. The capital’s roads and intersections were not designed to cope with such an influx. The air is thick with pollutants, many from the emissions of the more than 1,000 cars being added to the streets each day.
Accidents and “student driver” signs abound. When fender benders occur, Chinese tend to stop in place in the roadway, in the belief that the police will not be able to sort out who is to blame if they pull over to the shoulder. [Full text]
[Image: Chen Chao, founder of the K-One Car Club, runs an auto tuning shop in Beijing and organizes unofficial road races, via the Washington Post]
