road rage

Along With Car Ownership, Severe Road Rage Takes Root in China

Drivers got angry more than 17 million times

Chinese drivers are angry, very angry. According to the Ministry of Public Security, there have been a staggering 17 million road rage incidents this year, up 3 percent from last year.

The Ministry said that the most common acts of road rage include cutting off other drivers, tailgating, and sudden accelerating and braking. The culprits are also overwhelmingly male. According to the Ministry, 97 percent of all acts of road rage involve men.

One prominent example went viral this past May when a dash-mounted video camera recorded a vicious road rage incident in Chengdu. After a female driver named Hu changed lanes suddenly, a male driver named Zhang decided to retaliate. Zhang chased Hu until he was able to stop her underneath an overpass, where he assaulted her, leaving her with a concussion and broken bones.

While some netizens were quick to denounce Zhang for his cruelty, others cheered him on, arguing that Hu’s careless driving justified the physical retaliation.

The World Health Organization estimated 261,000 people died on China’s roads in 2013, while the Chinese government said 1,895 pedestrians died in traffic collisions when crossing roads last year.

Charles Liu

The Nanfang's Senior Editor