China police hot-wire sleepy drivers with chilli

[Dave in Spain]

China police hot-wire sleepy drivers with chilli
Reuters 3 hours 33 mins ago

Police in southwest China are spicing up drivers with raw chilli in a bid to stop them falling asleep at the wheel, a newspaper said Wednesday.

Police in the Chongqing region have started serving drivers chilli peppers at highway service stations, holding to the traditional Chinese belief that people often feel more sleepy in the Spring, the Chongqing Evening News said.

Most of the drivers are from neighbouring Sichuan, Yunnan and Hunan provinces, where chillies are a local favourite, it added.

"It's really good to have some hot peppers when you are tired from driving," van driver Chen Jun was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "They make you alert."

China's roads have long been among the most dangerous in the world due to overloaded and speeding trucks and drivers who switch lanes without signalling and often ignore traffic lights

 

[imaguitargod]

It really does work too! I've done this many times when I felt sleepy at the wheel.

 

[Sickmont]

Looks like i'll be packing a load of peppers with me this summer.

 

[Pepperfreak]

Beats coffee. No more caffee jitters.

 

[cheezydemon]

Allright. Hold the phone.

I hate stereotypes, and I have tried very hard not to consider asians to be bad drivers, despite what I have heard, and despite some real life examples I have witnessed.

But come on!

Crazy driving, no signals, sleeping at the wheel etc. are the norm in china??

At some point you have to decide if a stereotype can in fact be correct.

Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you - Kurt Cobain

P.S. I am not really serious, I am sure that there are asians out there who could drive circles around me, but it does make you wonder.

 

[patrick]

I've got a couple of oriental families living around my neighborhood. I haven't really noticed anything particularly bad as far as their driving habits go.

Hey Cheezy, you do know that Kurt Cobain isn't the guy who came up with that quote right? That's been around a long, long time.

 

[cheezydemon]

DOPE!

No, thanks for the info.

And in retrospect, I almost regret posting that, but I HAVE known some great people who happened to be asian, and who happened to be reeeeeeeeally bad drivers.

 

[imaguitargod]

DOPE!

No, thanks for the info.

And in retrospect, I almost regret posting that, but I HAVE known some great people who happened to be asian, and who happened to be reeeeeeeeally bad drivers.

I can vouch for you dude. I've seen it toooo many time for it to just be a stariotype...that and women drivers...sorry, but gotta call 'em like I see 'em.

 

[Pepperfreak]

Oh NO!!!

*Ducks under the desk*

*looking for flying objects*

 

[imaguitargod]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying guys can drive either, there's alot of bad guy drivers out there too. It's just that I see more female and asian bad drivers than di do the rest of the ethnicities.

 

[Sickmont]

It has occured to me that NO ONE can drive. Period. If you don't believe me, just ditch the car for a week and ride a bike to and from work and to do your errands and such and see what happens. You'll be agreeing with me very shortly.

 

[moyboy]

I went to china for a holdiday in late 07. and the sterotype is very true...

Traffic signals play no real role except to let drivers know that people might be crossing the road. The drivers won't stop at a red signal, but they might slow down a little. The attitude isn't that people have right of way, it is that the people have the right to walk across the street at there own risk....Even when the signal is green for you to walk you still take your life in your own hands walking across the street...

No one indicates....and I mean NO ONE......

The car horn in china takes on an almost living personality. It is used by every driver in every car at least 5 times a minute...The car horn is very much other langauge in china....

But despite how bad it looks and is to pedestrians....and with 10 of millions of cars in one city, you will never see a traffic jam (traffic may run a little slow at times but will never stop), nor do you often see any accidents.

chinese people may look at of place sometimes driving in Australia or USA where moral driving rules are different but in china it is the day to day norm. and very scary...

 

[Philipperv]

I went to china for a holdiday in late 07. and the sterotype is very true...

Traffic signals play no real role except to let drivers know that people might be crossing the road. The drivers won't stop at a red signal, but they might slow down a little. The attitude isn't that people have right of way, it is that the people have the right to walk across the street at there own risk....Even when the signal is green for you to walk you still take your life in your own hands walking across the street...

No one indicates....and I mean NO ONE......

The car horn in china takes on an almost living personality. It is used by every driver in every car at least 5 times a minute...The car horn is very much other langauge in china....

But despite how bad it looks and is to pedestrians....and with 10 of millions of cars in one city, you will never see a traffic jam (traffic may run a little slow at times but will never stop), nor do you often see any accidents.

chinese people may look at of place sometimes driving in Australia or USA where moral driving rules are different but in china it is the day to day norm. and very scary...

This is pretty true for here too. Lines on the street mean absolutely nothing and there are traffic jams here too. It is amazing how drivers can jockey for position inches from each other in every direction and accidents are fairly rare because most drivers rarely get to drive that fast and are already used to the driving conditions and the habits of their fellow drivers.

 

[cheezydemon]

Oh Hell, here we go.

I am all for cyclist rights.....to a point.

Here in louisville, there are "share the road- it's the law ads, cyclist respect signs etc.

NO PROBLEM.

But does it make sense for a cyclist to ride on a busy interstate(not an expressway) at 5 o freaking clock on Friday? No sidewalk, so that cars cannot pass unless there is no oncoming traffic?

These guys seem to intentionally ride at rush hour, trying to make a point.

I would not have believed that I would feel this way 5 years ago, but now that I am witnessing it.....

Does it make sense to inconvenience potentially thousands of people so that one guy can ride his bike on a busy road? I think not.

 

[Sickmont]

Oh Hell, here we go.

I am all for cyclist rights.....to a point.

Here in louisville, there are "share the road- it's the law ads, cyclist respect signs etc.

NO PROBLEM.

But does it make sense for a cyclist to ride on a busy interstate(not an expressway) at 5 o freaking clock on Friday? No sidewalk, so that cars cannot pass unless there is no oncoming traffic?

These guys seem to intentionally ride at rush hour, trying to make a point.

I would not have believed that I would feel this way 5 years ago, but now that I am witnessing it.....

Does it make sense to inconvenience potentially thousands of people so that one guy can ride his bike on a busy road? I think not.

All i can say is that i have no choice because i don't own a car....my bike is my only means of transportation. And no, i dont think people should be riding in the side of the road on a busy highway either, IF they can avoid it. Trust me, when i have to do it, i'd rather NOT be out there at rush hour, but my work hours just don't allow me that luxury at all. Although riding on the sidewalk is illegal, cops don't care because they'd rather have you up there than smeared on the road. But because most of the roads here have almost NO sidewalks, let alone bike lanes, occasionally i just don't have a choice.