Alright, now I have to go in to a little more detail about the roads and driving conditions.
First of all there are six million people living in Suzhou most of them are packed into busses while the rest drive cars or ride bikes. When I use the term bikes I mean electric scooters or bicycles. Most of the people here seem to be going to work at the same time every morning although, I know most of the companies around here run twenty four seven operations so that means I’m probably seeing only one third of the traffic that could happen every morning but, that’s enough to make me cringe every morning and afternoon when we almost push someone on a bike into a tree or even worse, an old lady sweeping the road. The traffic lights here have digital countdown displays similar to the ones the N.B.A. uses. They count down the seconds in red when the light is red getting everybody ready to race. Opposite of that when they are green they count down in green the seconds the light will stay green. Most people know they actually have a couple of more seconds to run the light before getting smashed. Just like everything else here the traffic light system is backwards from those in the states. First you get your green light to go straight then you get your left turn signal. Let me tell you that most people don’t obey the lights at all, especially cement trucks and construction worker’s trucks. Everyone knows that they are not going to stop and they are always moving at the speed of light. When there is one lane to make a left turn, three lanes of traffic make the left turn. I don’t know how they manage to do it but, somehow it works out, usually with only an inch or two between side mirrors. Just honk your horn.
Then there are the people on bikes carrying things. I’ve seen a guy on a bike with four sheets of 4’x 8’ plywood. I’ve also seen a guy with a ladder standing straight up with his head in one of the rungs. Did you know three people can fit on a bike? Three adults or two adults with an infant, it doesn’t matter everything goes here. There are some three wheel bikes that are powered by a generator with a belt hooked up to a pulley on the wheel. I don’t know how they control their speed but like most people on bikes usually feet make good brakes. YaBaDaBaDo! Modern day Fred Flintstone. The bikes have their own separate lane but, sometimes they choose to take the road anyways. That doesn’t really matter too much though because we all come together in the intersections anyways.
As dangerous as riding a bike here seems. I have to say when our bus broke down on the way home from work the first Friday I was here, the guys cruising by us on bikes looked like the way to go. They all kind of had a smile on their faces, I think they enjoyed seeing a group of westerners on the side of the road. All the while our driver, who wears a suit, was wading in the marsh with a twenty ounce bottle collecting water to pour in the radiator. I guess he enjoyed seeing it spray back out under the engine. At least the horn still worked.
First of all there are six million people living in Suzhou most of them are packed into busses while the rest drive cars or ride bikes. When I use the term bikes I mean electric scooters or bicycles. Most of the people here seem to be going to work at the same time every morning although, I know most of the companies around here run twenty four seven operations so that means I’m probably seeing only one third of the traffic that could happen every morning but, that’s enough to make me cringe every morning and afternoon when we almost push someone on a bike into a tree or even worse, an old lady sweeping the road. The traffic lights here have digital countdown displays similar to the ones the N.B.A. uses. They count down the seconds in red when the light is red getting everybody ready to race. Opposite of that when they are green they count down in green the seconds the light will stay green. Most people know they actually have a couple of more seconds to run the light before getting smashed. Just like everything else here the traffic light system is backwards from those in the states. First you get your green light to go straight then you get your left turn signal. Let me tell you that most people don’t obey the lights at all, especially cement trucks and construction worker’s trucks. Everyone knows that they are not going to stop and they are always moving at the speed of light. When there is one lane to make a left turn, three lanes of traffic make the left turn. I don’t know how they manage to do it but, somehow it works out, usually with only an inch or two between side mirrors. Just honk your horn.
Then there are the people on bikes carrying things. I’ve seen a guy on a bike with four sheets of 4’x 8’ plywood. I’ve also seen a guy with a ladder standing straight up with his head in one of the rungs. Did you know three people can fit on a bike? Three adults or two adults with an infant, it doesn’t matter everything goes here. There are some three wheel bikes that are powered by a generator with a belt hooked up to a pulley on the wheel. I don’t know how they control their speed but like most people on bikes usually feet make good brakes. YaBaDaBaDo! Modern day Fred Flintstone. The bikes have their own separate lane but, sometimes they choose to take the road anyways. That doesn’t really matter too much though because we all come together in the intersections anyways.
As dangerous as riding a bike here seems. I have to say when our bus broke down on the way home from work the first Friday I was here, the guys cruising by us on bikes looked like the way to go. They all kind of had a smile on their faces, I think they enjoyed seeing a group of westerners on the side of the road. All the while our driver, who wears a suit, was wading in the marsh with a twenty ounce bottle collecting water to pour in the radiator. I guess he enjoyed seeing it spray back out under the engine. At least the horn still worked.
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