Bad Asian drivers

[kimchee63]

Q: How do you make an Asian man go blind?

A: Put a windshield in front of him.

This is a joke that a former "friend" of mine told me, just prior to my severing ties with him. I'm a GUY, I like cars, I like to drive, and I associate good competent driving skills with not being a geek, which is another stereotype that I will go out of my way to avoid. If I had to make a list of my Top 5 stereotypes that I wish would go away, the Bad Driver rap would be #4 or #5.

My ex-friend also happens to be an insurance adjuster. Could there be any truth to the myth? Could this be a trait that one can attribute to recent emigres? My mother didn't learn to drive until she was 40, and I've caught her more than once doing 50 in the fast lane.

I'm also aware that there are different definitions of good driving in Asia, and what may appear to be reckless to our Westenized eyes could just be business as usual in Asia.

[wylin]

i assume its an inate skill to have monster cutting off and parking skills but paramount bad driving and ignorance of the law. for taiwanese people in mercedes and bmw's commonly! esp in rowland heights, ca

[kimchee63]

So, Wylin, you're saying that it's true?

[wylin]

Yes, kimchee i am saying that bad asian driving is a reality, because i have had the pleasure of living amongst many asian women and male drivers throughout my existence. Hence, i have noticed that either they fall into these categories.

1. inedpt - doesnot know how to drive
2. ignorant of laws and DMV regulations - randomly they create their own driving style and rules
3. Ultra defensive - a mouse would drive more aggresively then them.
4. Road rage - that martial arts decipline is gone, its all bout heavy foot and angry driving.

or combine any of these 4. to create the one true asian driver rune.

[pfc beansprout]

hmm..maybe just 'foreign' asian drivers? i go to a university where we got a lot of international students, and man...they can drive one nuts! <_< but i have not seen any statistics on AA driving deaths vs. the gen pop...so that's only an assumption....

[wylin]

also note women drive alot worse typically then men.

[kimchee63]

Wylin -

If you listen very carefully, you can actually HEAR the paint drying all around you. And it is drying v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

[wylin]

huh sorry i dont get 70's or 80's anology i grew up the 1990's and current era. im sorry to burst ur bubble asian women and alota asian men especially ricers and fobs cant drive worth shit.

note when i mean drive i mean:
- threshhold braking
- taking the apex of the turn ie turning where there is least resistance
- parallel parking
- basic low speed manuevers
- controlling brake torque and locking
- controlling the car in bad weath conditions
- knowing how to shift well and correctly on manual tranny cars
- good maintence at least basic safety like inflated tires and non falling off parts.
- not hitting stationary objects.
- basic common sense
- driving like a turtle deffensively.

many asian americans fail in those aspects heavily especially the older generation and women.

[pfc beansprout]

umm..quite the contrary there..statistically speaking..us men, are the worse drivers...i'll bite my tongue here and just hafta accept this one...lemme see if i can find the records (traffic accidents and violations for male/female).... ;)

[wylin]

asian ppl cant drive worth shit especially fobs period. come to rowland height and see how many ding each others cars and how everytime i go there i almost get into an accident low or highspeed because its taiwan rules on the road! same goes for koreatown and san gabriel valley. high concentration of fobs = high concentration of bad driving period.

[BeTheReds]

I think that Asian people drive fine. My fobby dad is one of the best drivers I have ever met.

However the reason why it is a stereotype is because whenever you are driving and someone cuts you off or almost hits you, you always turn your head to see who it is and cuss them out. Then you notice what race they are. And if you don't come in contact with Asians on a regular basis, then this is your only contact with some Asian people. And you begin to remember Asians as those people who suck at driving. But everyone comes in contact with white people whether they like it or not, so they tend to not stereotype them as bad drivers becase they probably know a white guy who can drive.

[Hiroshi2]

kimchee:

Well, I think that's an interesting, and perhaps valid explaination-cultural differences. Western culture and Asian culture are so fundamentally different, that it would not suprise me if this was the case.

BTW, when my mom drives, she does drive what some may see as "crazy". She'll hit the gas as fast as she can, and then just when you think she's gonna slam into the car in front of you at about 60 mph, she hits the brakes hard as she can. Not to mention illegal U-turns, not looking behind when she's backing up, not able to spot a stop sign half the time, etc. The thing is, our Taiwainese neighbors drive the same way, so maybe it is true and not just a stereotype?

I was gonna start a thread on this topic, btw, but i see that you already have, so continue on.

[luv]

This is interesting. The best driving I know is conducted by Asian people in my area. The stereotype of the bad driver most frequently heard is "the Hispanic hatchback loaded with 15 people" and "the old 40 yr. Chinese ladies who don't speak English".

I have to blame the racing on Initial D though.

[angel nympho]

Well, have you ever seen the way people need to drive to survive in Korea? The way they drive there is normal to them. But if you drive like that over here, that's interpreted as BAD DRIVING. So maybe some of the fobby people drive bad here, but put them in a car in Korea, and they're your ticket out of death.

So define bad. Bad HERE? Or bad THERE? They're probably decent drivers where they're from.

But if we're talkin' American born Asians, then yeah, as a generalization ( and generalizations DO suck, by the way...), people drive too aggressively all trying to show off and be badass. But I don't think that's ONLY Asians. A lot of people drive like that. And then, of course, there are those exceptions who follow all the rules and drive normally.



But here's another joke for ya'll... How do you know when Asians are moving into your neighborhood? All the Mexicans buy car insurance. :P

[wylin]

I have to blame the racing on Initial D though.

? why initial d is predated by drag racing in southern california by japanese youth in the mid 80's ever hear of shoreline racing and team precesion (they run greddy, XS,and turbo magazine and import tuner) those teams existed and raced illegally as far back as 1984 when shoreline had an accident down the street from my house during japanese cultural night.

secondly nympho can attest i live sumwhere where theres a rather large scourge of asians. especially koreans and japanese.

[ChairmanMah]

aww maaannn!!!

they do drive on the right side in asia and europe. that could be a reason

or are they just stupid old ppl or women who drive in fear too carefully and just get in your way.

They are confused, tourists maybe?

[hormiga]

Once in awhile it'll be an asian in a rice rocket driving recklessly, but usually the ethnicity of the driver that was miles behind you, who's now cutting in and out of traffic, is approaching and then within seconds he or she's on your tail. Usually they aren't asian. Go figure. :angry:

[hormiga]

Stereotype. Doesn't matter what ethnic group that you belong to. If you don't posess confidence when getting behind the wheel, then you're going to do a lousy job of driving.

[Hiroshi2]

i know exactly what you mean about the rain kb. You should see southerners when it snows. you do not want to be on the roadway.

[mrazntre]

i don't believe that it is just bad asian driver, however it's bad drivers period. it is just the notion of slef-hate which dictates the fact that in our minds, the bad driver always happens to be an asian person. as will said, he lives in a predominantly asian area, so of course there will be more incidences of bad asian driving. if you came to my neighborhood, you'd see the bad driving of hispanics. if you went to simi valley, you'd see the bad white drivers. it's something that is inherent in humans and not just asians. i have been in communities that vary all of the races of the world, and there has not been one place that all the drivers of a particular race were "good." It all has to do with population density, surroundings, traffic, street configuration, pedestrian traffic and other environmental factors that are out of our control. For instance, it would be less likely that a driver, regardless of being good or bad, would be more inclined to make a driving mistake in a suburb with large, unimpacted roads, as opposed to making a mistake in a traffic impacted area with smaller lanes, massive amounts of pedestrian traffic and overall congestion. For example, chinatown, monterey park, koreatown (let me remind you that koreatown is not only a bunch of koreans, but rather there is a large hispanic population in that area also), and lil saigon in westminster. Those are large, congested areas with high concentrations of asians. You have to compare those areas with such places as santa monica promenade, westwood village, hollywood, sunset, and the beverly center. These areas have larger concentrations of white people, and undoubtedly bad drivers. (I'm talking about southern california, had you not noticed).

Some are just concentrating on one aspect, which is the view that only asians are bad drivers while pointing to their own personal experiences. Sometimes you must expand your mind.

[wylin]

sy being my prime example of bad asian driving! :lol:

[mrazntre]

and will being my prime example of a bad fob driver

[BeTheReds]

they do drive on the right side in asia and europe. that could be a reason



No they don't. They drive on the right side everywhere in the world except in Great Britain, Japan and Australia, where they drive on the left.

Maybe HK too, but I am not sure. Or a various other countries that had strong ties to england and no land borders with right side driving countries.

[sal612]

Well I'm sure each race/ethnicity has their slew of bad drivers, but it can't be bandwagon association because that'd be unfair. I mean, a lot of teens drive wreckless, regardless of race.

[wylin]

u may suck but i didnt suck jk test post

[wylin]

?

[iris]

Hong Kong drives on the left. I think AAs drive fine but I do think OCs are horrible drivers. It's because here, traffic lights and lanes are just SUGGESTIONS. They drive so close and fast. In the 21 years I've lived in the US, I can count the number of car accidents I've witness on one hand. Since the month I've been here, I've seen 7 accidents and been in 2. I'm afraid to cross the street and ride in cars here. :confused:

[lethal]

Vietnamese people can't drive cars cause they don't have cars in Vietnam except for Taxis. Everyone rides those scooters.

My parents would fit into Will's ultra safe driver category. My uncles and aunts would fit into the don't know what the signs say or mean category.

[ism]

All I know is that everyone except me is a bad driver.

[pfc beansprout]

lethalweapon wuuut? never that...i'm one of the best drivers cruisin down the streets man! and not to mention, i can parallel park like a champion.... B) :D

[AliBabaIncorporated]

parallel parking is not tested on the Japanese driving test.

and I'm sick of nearly getting killed by pizza hut delivery boys.

[Craig]

parallel parking is not tested on the Japanese driving test.
Parallel parking isn't tested in California either.

[Green_Circle]

Ok I think it may be true that Asian drivers aren't exactly the best in creation. But has any asian ever killed anyone while driving? Have you seen or heard anything like that?

[hormiga]

"Ok I think it may be true that Asian drivers aren't exactly the best in creation. But has any asian ever killed anyone while driving? Have you seen or heard anything like that?"

It's the elderly asian who's too slow crossing the street that ends up getting killed.

[Hanuman]

BeTheReds
No they don't. They drive on the right side everywhere in the world except in Great Britain, Japan and Australia, where they drive on the left.

Maybe HK too, but I am not sure. Or a various other countries that had strong ties to england and no land borders with right side driving countries.


They drive on the left side in Thailand. Not sure why any country should drive on the left side. We invented the damn car, why go and mess things up???? Stupid Britons.

[lethal]

lethalweapon wuuut? never that...i'm one of the best drivers cruisin down the streets man! and not to mention, i can parallel park like a champion.... &nbsp;


Just my experience

[loserbutt]

I'm a great driver in my head!

[ChairmanMah]

an asian racer in yellow boxter smashed a pedestrian. He's prolly in jail now.

an older asian man killed a girl on a rainy day. She wore dark clothes that day and was jaywalking so i think he was not at fault.

this happened a couple years ago. last i heard of an asian driver on the news.

[wylin]

an asian racer in yellow boxter smashed a pedestrian. He's prolly in jail now.

an older asian man killed a girl on a rainy day. She wore dark clothes that day and was jaywalking so i think he was not at fault.

this happened a couple years ago. last i heard of an asian driver on the news.

and this means? u get a cookie for that

[applehead]

i don't drive.. but no one wants me on the road...
i'll probably be a bad driver and i have road rage..
i'll stick with subways...

my dad parks really well.. but... he gets tickets at least once a month..

[Hiroshi2]

Off the topic here, but i believe a handful of african nations also drive on the left, and there's somewhere in africa where a left-hand driving nation is adjacent to a right-hand driving one, and on the border between the two the lanes switch up accordingly. It's one of the few, if not only, place(s) in the world where that occurs. I can't remember the name of the country for anything though.

Anyway, once again not on the topic: i can't parallel park to save my life! The first time i did it i thought i parked four to six inches from the curb, but as it turns out i was about three feet from the curb. The next time i tried it, i damaged two wheels because i tried to park too close and ending up running up on the curb. Besides the whole PP thing, i can drive OK i guess.

[ChairmanMah]

"and this means? u get a cookie for that"

i was answering Green Circle when he asked if any asian man drove anyone over.

[hormiga]

If you're an aggresive person then your driving will indicate that.

[hormiga]

Well, have you ever seen the way people need to drive to survive in Korea? The way they drive there is normal to them. But if you drive like that over here, that's interpreted as BAD DRIVING. So maybe some of the fobby people drive bad here, but put them in a car in Korea, and they're your ticket out of death.

So define bad. Bad HERE? Or bad THERE? They're probably decent drivers where they're from.

But if we're talkin' American born Asians, then yeah, as a generalization ( and generalizations DO suck, by the way...), people drive too aggressively all trying to show off and be badass. But I don't think that's ONLY Asians. A lot of people drive like that. And then, of course, there are those exceptions who follow all the rules and drive normally.



But here's another joke for ya'll... How do you know when Asians are moving into your neighborhood? All the Mexicans buy car insurance.

[wylin]

"and this means? u get a cookie for that"

i was answering Green Circle when he asked if any asian man drove anyone over.

then quote it. so we can understand who ur talking to versus gibberish.