Concerns continue to periodically surface about the plight of cyclists trying to navigate the streets of China’s large cities. The battles in the streets with the growing number of cars, and on the sidewalks with pedestrians (to avoid the cars!) are beginning to take their toll. In Beijing, some 2 million bikes contend everyday with now over 4 million cars. Of course, incidents happen, with many Beijingers feeling the rights of cyclists are being largely ignored.
And the roads are dangerous. A reportedly World Health Organization estimate (2004) claimed that more than 600 lives are lost and some 45,000 people injured on China’s roads every day making China the top ranking country of those compared. On a good note, the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China passed in 2003 has been helping to steadily move those numbers downward.
Cyclists are not oblivious to these dangers. But bike helmets, for example, are still a rare sight on China’s city streets. They’re relatively expensive and often seen as “strange and unnecessary. ” Among kids and teens, they stand out “too much” for their young tastes.
In Shanghai accidents between cyclists and cars or pedestrians are also an everyday occurrence. But in a typical grand gesture, Shanghai is promising to build 300 kilometers of bike lanes throughout the city for the 10 million bikes that still travel its roads. The only issue is that the city does not intend to complete the project until 2020, far too slow for those used to the “supersonic speed” at which things get done in this city.
The numbers of cars in China’s cities are rapidly growing, bikes are declining and the health implications are chilling. Yet all through the “Bicycle Kingdom” we’re witnessing an important struggle between a long standing biking heritage that supports a green future, and the effects of industrial strength globalization. Perhaps more so than anywhere else on the planet, this struggle in China may be highly instructive for the rest of us as well and warrants our close and continued attention.
