Beijing's Traffic

The traffic in Beijing is chaotic. Drivers rule, and pedestrians have to do their best avoid getting his by cars. Cars routinely drive in the bicycle lane, and many cars speed. Despite having been living in such a chaotic environment for almost a year now, I had not seen any car accidents. I have personally been in a few bike accidents, but nothing two serious. Once I did end up destroying someone else's wheel after I hit it. All this changed over the weekend when I witnessed a dramatic car accident.

I had just finished lunch with Wendy, one of my Chinese friends, and she was taking me to the bus stop to show me which bus to take home. As we were waiting, I heard a crash to my right followed by screeching sound. Looking into the road in the opposite lane, I saw a white car sliding on its side along the street. It finally came to a stop and several passerbys ran into the street to help the occupants. After a few moments about ten people began shaking the car, until it fell over on its correct side. I walked up on to the pedestrian bridge for a better view. Apparently the women inside was uninjured. I saw her standing next to her car talking on a cell phone. With a better vantage point on the bridge, I also finally saw the other car involved in the collision, a taxi. It was located about fifty meters up the street. Its front side had been severely damaged. It didn't seem as if anyone was injured, as I only saw a police car. Wendy told me that this was the second accident she had seen. In her home town, Chengde, she told me she saw the aftermath of an accident in which a pedestrian was killed. At no point did I hear any sirens. The traffic did not stop at all, instead it went around the cars. It seems as though in China victims of an accident must fend for themselves, and not expect much help from authorities.