China and the Automobile

[25 Year Honda Owner]

The May issue of National Geographic had some interesting statistics concerning the automobile and China.

• There are currently 11,500,000 cars in China with 1,000 being added daily.
• Number of cars per 1,000 residents in China is 9. In comparison the US is 450. .
• China will have more cars than the US in 2025.
• 37% of the people driving in China today did not know how to drive 3 years ago.
• The death rate from accidents in China per 100,000 vehicles is 4.5 times that of the US.
• Percent of car owners in China that paid cash for their vehicles 96%

[BruceRTL]

I was in China this past November and from what I understand, they just got something called, "Road Traffic Safety Laws" in October of 2003. Trust me - it shows. Riding around in a taxi in Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai was absolutely the scariest thing I have ever done.

[k757]

Originally Posted by 25 Year Honda Owner

• Percent of car owners in China that paid cash for their vehicles 96%

What was the cost of the cars there (in US dollars)? What is their cars likely fuel mileage?

[25 Year Honda Owner]

Originally Posted by k757

What was the cost of the cars there (in US dollars)? What is their cars likely fuel mileage?

I have no idea! Just ran across the web site!!

[Humble Pie]

Originally Posted by BruceRTL

I was in China this past November and from what I understand, they just got something called, "Road Traffic Safety Laws" in October of 2003. Trust me - it shows. Riding around in a taxi in Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai was absolutely the scariest thing I have ever done.

Amen to that....the worst driving I have ever seen.....I was in Shanghai and Changzhou for most of last September working on getting a manufacturing plant started up.....road signs and traffic lights are merely suggestions.....the amount of motorcycles and bicycles are incredible.....many driving the wrong way and anywhere they want to....I see the stats show that 37% of the people in China did not know how to drive 3 years ago.....from what I saw, they still don't.....if people drove like that here, they would either be run over or shot....

[MikeT]

Originally Posted by k757

What is their cars likely fuel mileage?

The Chinese government does not seem to care about the gas milage or air polution.

[k757]

Originally Posted by MikeT

The Chinese government does not seem to care about the gas milage or air polution.

So China does have a lot of ties to the US

[Humble Pie]

Originally Posted by MikeT

The Chinese government does not seem to care about the gas milage or air polution.

The week before I got to Changzhou, they had incidents of what is called "black rain" basically dark overcast skys that looks like rain, but is pollution in the atmosphere....I was in Changzhou when the typhoon barely missed Shanghai....millions of people were evacuated there....weather fronts are welcome and is the only thing that clears the air.....they talk like they care about pollution, but they don't....what I saw is still a very communist country.......