Time to Buckle Up?

For better or worse, China’s always been pretty lax about seat belt usage. But now, with several lethal accidents occurring at the end of 2011 and start of 2012, the central government is launching campaigns to get China buckling up. Will it actually work?

Show of hands – how many of you have had the following experience?

You get in a cab. Out of habit, you reach for the belt and start to pull it across your torso. Your cab driver blurts out in Chinese, “You don't need that seat belt. I’m a very careful driver!” If you don’t understand him, he’ll shake his head and wave your seat belt away from its clicky receptacle.

Maybe they feel insulted or perhaps they think that somehow putting on a seat belt invites catastrophe. Either way, their logic leaves something to be desired, no?

Now, following a spate of accidents with death rates higher than they’ve been in years, the government is trying to get more people to buckle up. How? By requiring all commercial vehicles that use expressways to install seatbelts, inspecting long-haul buses before departure and educating the general public on the benefits of seatbelt usage. (Read the full story here.)

Judging by the habits we’ve seen on BTV’s very graphic road accident show Traffic Lights, we’ve got a long way to go before we’re safe on the roads. But will inspections and requirements with no imposed fines (yet) really help?

How many of you can even find seat belts to use when taking cabs? And will a seatbelt requirement be a lifesaver or a nuisance?

Photo: Automoblog.net