How to Control Your Road Rage in the Wake of German Expat’s Racist Tirade

Kyle Mullin | Nov 22, 2016 9:25 am | 19 comments | 6119 reads

Though parking spaces are undeniably rare in our ever-gridlocked capital, one high-profile expat is likely wishing that he'd opted for another spot after news broke about him getting into a bitter argument with a Chinese driver, an explosion of rage that has cost him his job.

Rainer Gartner, a German expat working as head of Daimler Trucks and Buses, has been accused of going on a racist tirade after getting in a parking dispute with another driver in the River Garden villa complex in Shunyi.

News reports detailing social media accounts of the incident say the German expat shouted at the other driver: "I've been in China for a year already, and the first thing I learned is that all Chinese are bastards." He then allegedly sprayed one bystander who had joined the argument with pepper spray.

A video reenactment of the incident was posted on the Chinese-language Beijing News this morning.

Daimler released a statement saying that Gartner has since been replaced and said the man's actions were not representative of the company's values. It is unclear if he was fired, assigned to another position in Beijing, or re-deployed to another of the company's locations.

Of course even the best of us – drivers, passengers, commuters – fall victim to feeling a bit of road rage on Beijing's frantic streets.

But it's good to keep in mind that Beijing's traffic is not all that different from other overcrowded cities worldwide, and there's no point in losing your cool in a locale like this where smartphone cameras are ubiquitous, and social media traffic is the only thing more vicious than the traffic on the road.

So how to control your road rage in Beijing? Here are some tips:

1. Remember: This is not a "China" thing
Bringing race or culture into it is the first mistake. Americans will tell you what lousy drivers Bostonians are, and ask an Italian about the drivers of Rome. Let's not even talk about what an Indian might say about drivers in Mumbai. Conflict amongst drivers is par for the course in most big cities. And some even find Beijing less stressed out than other major metropolises.

“Honestly I've been driving and I don't see that much rage compared to what I would see in LA or New York,” said AJ Warner, an American who has been driving in Beijing for over a decade. “Actually I found people here much more accepting of 'crazy' driving.”

2. If you're a foreigner, don't expect things to work like home.
Recall that as a foreigner, your expectations of what’s right and wrong – and how traffic disputes will be adjudicated – will likely be radically different from what it’s like at home.

There was a time when Chinese might have deferred to a foreigner out of some combination of either politeness (“you’re a guest here, we should understand if you get easily frustrated"), fear (“this guy might be an ambassador and I could get in trouble”) or simply linguistic difficulty (“not worth arguing because I can’t understand what he’s saying”), but these days are no more.

Also recall that despite all its economic and social progress over the past 60 years, a legacy of invasion and colonization by foreigners is not an easy thing to forget, and yeah, a German guy saying "all Chinese are bastards" does in fact bring up memories of bad foreign behavior from a century ago.

3. Keep calm with your favorite music/podcast
QQ Music and podcasting apps have saved my commuting life. Selecting your most calming or energizing music to accompany your commute does wonders to your attitude. Warning: I would suggest leaving the speed metal and raging punk tunes off the playlist.

4. Realize there is no emotional intent
Big mistake: attributing intent to a driver’s actions. "That driver almost ran me over in the crosswalk because he wanted to scare me out of the way." Much more likely, the driver did not even look at me, and is rather just following the habits he or she has developed after watching countless motorists do the same at every intersection, and never being cautioned about it by traffic police.

5. We’re all in this together
A nice dose of selflessness is in order in realizing that you’re not the only one who is frustrated as hell. In fact, its very likely the person you are raging against feels the exact same frustration as you.

6. Your filter isn't the same as theirs.
This tip, courtesy of Psychology Today is doubly true for the expat in Beijing. “We instinctively believe that everyone else does (or should) view the world the same way that we do!” Is it no wonder that a German with a lifetime of driving experience would find the rules of the road quite different in Beijing, as well as the rules of social engagement?

7. You’re not going to change China with your tirade.
You're one person. Your tirade is unlikely to teach anyone a lesson about rules of the road, and it's much more likely to perpetuate the stereotype that foreigners are jerks who think themselves superior to the Chinese. The last thing we expats need is for China to roll up the welcome mat extended to foreigners that allows us to work and play in Beijing.

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle
WeChat: 13263495040

Image: the Car Connection, Beijing News

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PatrickLi's picture PatrickLi Submitted by Guest on Wed, 11/30/2016 - 09:14

http://news.sina.com.cn/c/nd/2016-11-30/doc-ifxyawmp0602223.shtml

Same issue here: the story is about a Shanxi coal plant that fails to meet the emission standard for 10 years in a row.

According to the news, local government says that they have no power to regulate the coal plant. (管不了)

Reading Chinese news is getting more and more oxymoronic for me, which I didn't find before. The quintessential function of a government is to regulate on rules and laws that the people agree on, but in China, the news tells you that a local government claims it does not have the power to regulate. 

This local government just outdoes Ronald Reagan. Good job. 

PatrickLi's picture PatrickLi Submitted by Guest on Wed, 11/30/2016 - 09:04

After watching the movie I'm not Madame Bovary, I feel part of the reason why police in Beijing don't pull people over is not that they consciously weigh the cost/benefit of doing so (the cost might be too high due to the high volume of the traffic), rather that they don't want to create any spectacle or do anythign that can possibly get themselves into trouble. 

What if I pull over a very powerful/important person?

What if I pull over a government official?

What if the guy that I pulled over claims to know my supervisor and will call my supervisor?

What if my action causes traffic jam and some important people turn angry?

 

If it were to happen in a country with rule of law, the police isn't afraid of pulling anyone over if he has the evidence to support his claim. No matter if you are a senator, a judge, a mayor, you use the wrong lane and get pulled over? Pay the fucking bill. 

In China, oh my, you are in big trouble here. Let's not talk about you pull a politician/government official over, you pull some rich businessmen over and he might call your supervisor --- real story.

Not even to mention if by pulling someone over you create a traffic congestion, a spectacle, and someone with power tuns unhappy because of that. 

 

If I were a police, I won't pull anyone over in Beijing either. I don't want to lose my job. 

That's the evil of a totailtarian, completely top-down, system with no rule of law. 

zhuwensen's picture zhuwensen Submitted by Guest on Tue, 11/29/2016 - 13:05

The German guy did the right thing. Shame that he didn't know Krav Maga, he could have set things even more right.

Frankly, the Chinese do not know how to drive and are generally rude in driving and queueing. Seems so many of them were not taught well by their mamas.

Thankfully the days of the one child policy are over but change will come slowly.

...and Who ever it was (was it Schwanker?) who said you can't change China is completely wrong. Period.

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Tue, 11/29/2016 - 10:42

Hi justchill

nice comments, appreciate your perspective.

Of course it's a generalization that every major metropolis has traffic problems, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that most of them do. They may not be the same as Beijing or as severe, but they do.

Being from the suburbs of Boston, a city that's known for bad drivers (though we Bostonians don't think so), I've been run off the road twice by vindictive, road-raged drivers.

And in the tony liberal suburb where my dad now lives, local traffic laws highly favor pedestrians, and in downtown areas every crosswalk is marked with pylons that say "yield to pedestrians".

Now I'm heavily on the side of pedestrians in the cars vs pedestrian wars but that damn regulation emboldens every footloose jerk in town to walk right in front of my moving vehicle at any time and at any angle, without regard to whether I happen to be mere centimeters in front of the crosswalk while traveling at 20 MPH and with complete disregard to their own personal safety or whether the driver and passengers in the car will suffer whiplash as we jam on the breaks to yield to the jerk who has leapt out from behind a parked vehicle and into the street. It's infuriating.

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

justchillininbeijing's picture justchillininbeijing Submitted by Guest on Mon, 11/28/2016 - 19:58

Some of the tips are actually good. Probably the most useful tip is that your tirade isn't going to change China. Trust me, if ranting and raving could change China, or any place for that matter, I would have changed the entire universe by now. However, I disagree with the overall message that this is an issue in every major city around the world. Driving culture in China is extremely unique compared to the west. In Chicago I never had to worry about getting run over by a bus when I'm crossing the street with my 3 year old son when the walk sign is green. In Vegas you don't see even drunk people using the sidewalk as an extra lane. In Monterrey, Mexico you might be worried about being mugged on gunpoint on a daily basis, but you don't have to worry about somebody driving on the wrong side of a busy and fast-moving road just so he could pass the dude in front of him. In New York I never had to make sure no scooters or tuk tuks were about to run me over as I was getting off a bus. The list goes on. So come on. Admit the truth. There are some pretty major problems with driving culture here. It's completely understandable that Beijing is overcrowded and therefore traffic police are told not to hold up traffic by pulling somebody over to give them a measly speeding ticket. But there is a unique problem here and it probably can't be changed unless Beijing somehow cuts its population in half. Now, keeping that in mind, I feel you all, I actually agree with those of you who complain. But honestly, quit the b*tchin. I'm not saying to drink the koolaide like way to many foreigners here do. But I'm not going to change China. You're not going to change China. These people have developed a way of life that which we decided to become a part of. This is their country. This is their city. If you truly can't stand it but want to stay because of business opportunities or whatever, then just do what I decided to do a long time ago... Don't leave the friggin house unless you're going to work. Because shenanigans are bound to happen every time you get to street level. Just remember, we chose to be here and we are choosing to continue to be here. When we rant and rave we are only making ourselves angrier and giving ourselves headaches.

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Thu, 11/24/2016 - 15:38

Steven Schwankert wrote:

Your second paragraph describes the general but unique conditions in China, thereby proving that it is a China thing. 

yeah, that's why started off by saying "It is a China thing in the sense that it is a thing that happens in China."

I think the original article should have said:

Remember: This is not a "Chinese" thing

rather than

Remember: This is not a "China" thing

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Thu, 11/24/2016 - 07:45

It is a China thing in the sense that it is a thing that happens in China.

The logical fallacy the guy in question has made is to interpret this as some inherent characteristic of the Chinese ethnicity ("all you Chinese are bastards")

Driving behavior here is not shaped by culture but by three other factors: overcrowding (which makes people anxious); selective enforcement of traffic regulations; and a city that was not initially designed for cars and thus still going through growing pains

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

Steven Schwankert's picture Steven Schwankert Submitted by Guest on Wed, 11/23/2016 - 09:06

Unlike this article's well-intentioned author and some of the commenters above, including Admin, I drive in Beijing, and to say that it's not a China thing is simply ignorant. Driving in Beijing is not like driving in North America. North American driving is civilized to the point of boredom. That may in part be due to rigorous enforcement: one never knows if a local police officer or state trooper is lurking around the next corner. 

There may be road rage in other countries, but here I have seen on multiple occasions where drivers who felt they were cut off actively attempt to overtake and cut off the offenders, intending to cause an accident and spark an even more intense conflict. At least three times I have been a passenger in a taxi where this took place, with the taxi driver either as the perpetrator or the offended. 

Mr. Warner's comment above,“Actually I found people here much more accepting of 'crazy' driving," is extremely naive. "Crazy driving" in North America is seen as such because it is the exception. In my morning commute today, I saw a pedestrian hit by an SUV, and a truck hauling cement blocks make a left turn in front of me from the right lane. That's an average day in Beijing. Just because people are "accepting" of this behavior simply means they don't want to have a fistfight over every single untoward action by another driver. 

The Daimler executive was wrong and his actions have cost him dearly. The author is correct: a tirade will not change China. But as we have seen with other anti-social behavior, regular prodding by well-meaning citizens can bring positive results. Flashing high beams and those who ride with their bright lights on is starting to get those lights down. The occasional horn honk is getting slow drivers out of the cruising lanes and over to the right, where they have more space and time. Constructive action, not passive acceptance, will and has brought better behavior to China's roads.

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Tue, 11/22/2016 - 16:53

starborn wrote:

I routinely almost get run over carrying my 1 year old when crossing the street on green.  IT IS a China thing.

I hear where you are coming from. I don't drive here, i am a pedestrian most of the time and local driving laws do not enforce respect or regard for crosswalks at all.

However, it is interesting to note that if a particular traffic rule is enforced by a street camera, drivers will obey that law as if their life depended on it.

So its not as if Chinese people lack the capacity to drive or are "all bastards", its that they have learned that that some laws are not enforced, so there is little reason to follow it (especially since the driver that does slow down to allow a pedestrian pass will be rewarded with a symphony of angry horns from all the anxious motorists behind them).

 

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Tue, 11/22/2016 - 16:09

Though we don't know the specifics of who did what when, it is a real thing Lynx. Daimler has apologized on the record, and i have an additional source doing contract work for the company who tells me the staff has been in an internal meeting about it all morning today. 

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

lynxlynx's picture lynxlynx Submitted by Guest on Tue, 11/22/2016 - 16:02

There's not much to do regarding the traffic/road situation here, it's the way it is; and some of the mentioned tips are actually not bad.

But besides road rage, there is another thing: so far Chinese media (Xinhua, Global Times, Caijin) only

refer to one (!) anonymous (!) social media post in this whole story, and "admin" is also only refering to FB. So no confirmed, official statements or sources, just online gossip. So far no one here/online knows what really happened, but following said social media, there is already a shitsorm going on - and full name, address, picture, licence number and phone number of this German dude available online. And that's the scary thing: no matter what this guy did, or why, or if he is or is not responsible for what happened, it's no excuse to put out all his private information online. That's an invitation to the mob. No matter if you are a racist prick attacking others with pepper spray, or just at the wrong place at the wrong time: situations like this are handled by the authorities, and not the online/real mob. And The Beijinger only reposting gossip is not really helping in this situation. Next time it's you or you or you being (wrongly or not) accused of sth by an anonymouse source online - and then it's your full name and picture and maybe more out there, thanks to the help of The Beijinger. Shame on you, The Beijinger.

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Tue, 11/22/2016 - 13:10

From a Facebook poster: "The guy has not been fired but called back to Germany to avoid further negative impact. Also Daimler has made clear that until the incident has been fully investigated he is considered innocent."

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

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