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China Has A Category Of Cars Called Minicars And They Are Simply Amazing - The Autopian
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this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2025
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I've been living in China for 7 years and am currently here for the New Year celebrations, and yeah those things are everywhere and they are quite versatile. Best thing is, if they block the road you can push it away single handedly, or even carry it over obstacles with 2-3 people.
They are roadworthy, but wouldn't ever survive an actual crash; but that's not what they are meant for. With top speeds of maybe 35 kmh (22 mph) they are really just intended for short commutes, and may even drive in bike lanes. So there's next to no risk of them getting involved into anything serious.
To bad we will never see these in the states.
Unless you introduce another vehicle class that doesn't require the same comprehensive crash tests as a regular car. In China bicycles were the number one means of transport until like 20 years ago, so there were bike lanes in abundance, that have then been converted to e-bike lanes, usually with a divider to both the main road and sidewalk. Opening those up for those small cars was easy enough, so traffic flows pretty neatly. That is, totally chaotic, but without different vehicle types obstructing one another unless for major intersections.
Does China have separate infrastructure for their industry driving or is it just not a common enough thing to worry about?
To be clear, I'm asking about things like semi trucks and not doordash
Trucks with an empty weight above 3.5 metric tons require separate licenses, and are also tested for road safety in accordance with stricter standards.
I'm not very familiar with how it works in the US, but at least on paper the requirements are pretty much on par with most of Europe.
The main difference is that there are no laws requiring drivers to keep rest periods, and maximum loads are considered a recommendation at best. That's why you still have a fair number of incidents involving trucks, their brakes for example are tested to decelerate while hauling 20 tonnes, but if in reality it's closer to 40, even the most generous tolerances aren't working out.
Fines are a slap on the wrist really, and checks are very random and uncommon (in my 7 years I once encountered a road block on the highway where they actually checked vehicle's weights, and that was right after a bridge in the city of Wuxi collapsed under an overloaded truck).
Let me check if there's an English article about that.
Edit: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/eight-people-dead-two-injured-in-bridge-collapse-in-china
Who are you, God? Internet strangers doing things for the good of others is a sight for sore eyes
Why not?
The article talkes about top speeds of 75 mph, so 120 kmh.