Stopping For Yellow Lights

EVERY RED white and blue blooded american has had the thrilling experience of approaching an intersection just as the light turns yellow, flirting with the idea of stopping, then dismissing said idea as unnecessary, and flying right on through, just as the light goes red. Nobody ever gets hurt; usually. Most of the time, in american courtrooms, the right to run a yellow light is affirmed.

This is the way it has always been in china, as well, until just the other day. A new law makes it illegal to run a yellow light. A yellow light is now not only a warning that red will soon follow, it now has the same meaning as red; stop, or you have violated the law.

Each year in china about one hundred thousand people die in auto accidents, which ranks number one in the world. India is second with about eighty thousand, the united states comes in a distant third at around forty thousand.

Many chonese drivers are not happy with the new law; they feel it violates their rights as motorists, defeats the very purpose of the yellow light, and, in perhaps the most creative opposing argument yet, it attempts to defy newton's first law of motion, something to the effect that an object in motion tends to remain in motion, unless brought to a stop by well maintainted air brakes.

We americans often think of our streets an highways as rough and tumble venues of wild , life risking adventure. Americans who have travelled around the world, and ridden or driven in cars in many other countries, will tell you that the wildness and adventure are far greater in places other than the united states, among them china.

Its all opinion and perception, of course. For a long time americans visiting china were not only allowd to rent cars, they were kept off bicycles too; the reputation of american drivers and riders preceeded them.

You may recall from history that when the automobile was invented, and driven in small numbers on dirt trails, no thought was given to road safety or traffic regulation and control. Only later, when paved roads and heavier traffice made it necessary for survival did theses things kick in. The public took to it...grudgingly...

At first pwople were convinced that a cop would be needed at every intersection, and the potential expense seem daunting. Stop signs and stop lights proved to be miraculous invnetions. I recall when i was a child my father said that all yield signs should be changed to stop signs. Well, maybe.

The chinese were probably better off back in the day, when most of them rode bicycles and did not smoke cigarettes, or eat cheeseburgers. I wonder if drivers in other countries tailgate (follow too closely) as we all do here in america.