Originally Posted by
azesty
Its sad seeing the, hopefully temporary, demise of the Chinese bike culture. Hopefully fuel costs will push sales down soon.
If not that, then China's aversion to sending money overseas might get them to tax fuel enough to make a difference.
z
Sorry for the Chinese, that ain't gonna happen. The vast majority of automobile owners in China are a very elite class. The price of fuel doesn't phase them one bit. They don't have private cars because they need it for transportation, like we do in the USA, Chinese elite have cars because they can afford it.
You could double or triple the cost of fuel in China and the people who are driving now - and the people who dream of automobile ownership would not change their driving lifestyle. Think of guys like George Bush or Dick Cheney driving around in Hummers. They don't give a crap what gasoline costs - that kind of worry is for the little people... and THAT is the mentality of the people in China who own automobiles.
That is why you see Chinese elite driving on the "bicycle only" boulevards. They truly believe that rules are for the little people - for the other guy. They don't care about getting tickets because they simply pay it - a kind of toll for driving on the "bicycle only" boulevards.