"Death Cab" in Shanghai

I would not want to drive in China. Cars cut across 4 lanes at a time, people make left turns from the right hand lane. The horn is the most used part of the vehicle. Pedestrians and bikes are merely temporary road blocks.

But I don't think I want to get into another taxi in Shanghai. I somehow ended up sitting shotgun for most of the taxi rides that we took there. And I got a great view of all the potential accidents. (Side note: Eddie says don't ride the dark red cabs...they rip you off cuz they don't have meters). Usually there were three lanes, but the taxis seemed to think that the space in between the cars in those three lanes were also lanes. So we squeezed by numerous cars like this. Although "squeezed" isn't quite the right word..."whizzed by" would be more appropriate. Without any hint of hitting the brakes, the taxis would pass vehicles in these make believe lanes, with inches to spare on either side of the car. Another taxi driver decided that he was facing the wrong direction, so he made a U turn from the right hand lane, cutting off traffic in the left hand lane. Another taxi driver decided that he wanted to get back to our hotel as fast as possible. So he speeded down the road, and almost hit another taxi driver who was standing outside his car AND almost hit the taxi coming from the left hand side trying to cut our taxi guy off. There was some honking, and he slowed down just enough where if I had my windows rolled down, I could have touched the taxi driver standing outside his car. There were rides where I thought we would definitely, without a doubt, hit a bike, motorcyclist, pedestrian, or concoming vehicle. The only reason we avoided the moving objects seemed to be because the taxi driver used his horn to warn them that he was going to hit them. There was also that driver that ran through a red light, as if it were completely normal...

Needless to say, I did not breathe while the taxi was in motion. I may have turned blue during the ride, but it was impossible to ignore the fact that at any moment, I could die. Amy B even admitted that Shanghai drivers were worse than NYC taxi drivers. So, I've decided that the next time I have to ride in a cab in Shanghai, I am putting on the seat belt, and sitting in the back seat.