John Laws' Opinion on Asian Drivers (1 Viewer)

[scarybunny]

From my observations, in terms of skill Asian drivers are not any worse than anybody else.

However, in terms of driving courtesy and manners while driving they are the worst. I remember that i was driving through a narrow street (i'm an L-plater) and this asian woman driving a Lexus IS200 just drove, and at a high speed considering the street (around 50-60), and barely missed me. She didn't even seem to care and didn't even recognise me. It was as if she was forcing her way (as i had to pull over to let her through) past me.

Thats where i believe the stereotype comes from.

Ah but that incident was probably just because nobody who drives a Lexus is a good driver. Ever. I am dead serious, whenever I see a Lexus it's always doing something stupid.

 

[bozin]

i dont know.... asians are better than anybody else at many things(ie math, cooking chinese haha etc) but driving isnt 1 of them. they just dont seem to be aware that there are other people on the road- they might run u off the road for eg and not notice anything wrong or not care.... and its up to u to get the fuk out of the way

 

[bazookajoe]

Yeah this one time I remember an Asian driver did something stupid, therefore all Asian drivers are awful.
This seems to be the general consensus of this thread

 

[ssejamafone]

arrhhhh.. i hate people who say that asian drivers are crap. My mum is like the best driver i know, AND she drives a lexus. All the asian drivers i know are pro, and i'm a lot better than tons of people i know.

in my experience, i've only ever seen non-asian people doing crap on roads.

 

[PrinceHarry]

it'll be interesting to see car accident statistic based on racial lines. To me red and green P's are always the worst and I'm a red P'ter.

 

[pennypacker]

He said "I understand that Chinese drivers are probably the worst drivers on the face of the earth."

Having been to China and seen the driving over there first hand, I can safely say i agree with him. I feared for my life every time i travelled on the road.

The asian drivers in Sydney from my personal observations are also pretty bad in general. It's not an attack on asians, it's just an observation. And it makes sense in my mind. If they're bad in there own country, it stands to reason they'd be bad when they come out here.

However I have asian friends who aren't terrible at driving, and I think it's because they grew up here and learnt to drive here. So i think the only bad asians are ones who didn't learn to drive here...

 

[ur_inner_child]

it'll be interesting to see car accident statistic based on racial lines. To me red and green P's are always the worst and I'm a red P'ter.

What would an Australian of asian descent, whose ancestors arrived in the Gold Rush days and has little to do with their asian culture, be classed as? Asian still?

Or has the asian driving gene warn off by then. Sorry, I'm a bit foggy with the science.

 

[trolloutaface]

he called asians (chinese in particular) the worst drivers, and elaborated the comment with indications to their heights and eye sights.

no offence but it's true. I swear, they're dangerous. they fucking drive like they're blind or something and know nothing about driving rules/regulations etc.

:O

 

[ur_inner_child]

From here on, any post that has very little substance eg "he's right <insert asian driving complaint>" in their post gets deleted. Analyse what he said. "He's right" isn't enough. This will not be a thread to complain about asian drivers. Please understand the difference.

If it continues to be a "complain about asian drivers" thread, I will close and delete it. Such a thread has been done to death.

 

[_dhj_]

He said "I understand that Chinese drivers are probably the worst drivers on the face of the earth."

Having been to China and seen the driving over there first hand, I can safely say i agree with him. I feared for my life every time i travelled on the road.

The asian drivers in Sydney from my personal observations are also pretty bad in general. It's not an attack on asians, it's just an observation. And it makes sense in my mind. If they're bad in there own country, it stands to reason they'd be bad when they come out here.

However I have asian friends who aren't terrible at driving, and I think it's because they grew up here and learnt to drive here. So i think the only bad asians are ones who didn't learn to drive here...

I don't think the levels of driving ability in Asia are lower. The roads are more congested, the driving style is more aggressive, there's less space for vehicles to maneuvre. This makes the skill level required for driving in Asia even higher. So only taxi drivers in Sydney may survive on the roads of say, Shanghai. If you insist on making generalisations you'd say that Asian drivers are more skillful, but also more aggressive and less concerned about road etiquette.

 

[Snaykew]

Yes, there is a specific driving gene in our DNA that depicts whether we're good drivers or not.

No, just no. An Asian born and raised in Australia, instructed by Australian driving instructors and driving on Australian roads just like any other Australian will be like every other driver.

All he's done is made a generalisation without any backing, like stereotypes are meant to be. He's just trying to sound smart. Too bad he's not. :[

EDIT: Oh and, maybe drivers who come from overseas to here drive differently. I wonder why, different driving environment and all. :]

 

[MaNiElla]

I think that he was really harsh on the lady, he literally humiliated her on air, in front of hundreds of people. If he thinks asians are the worst drivers, then he might as well keep his opinion to himself, because no one is really interested in hearing it. Especially stupid stuff like this.

 

[watatank]

I don't think the levels of driving ability in Asia are lower. The roads are more congested, the driving style is more aggressive, there's less space for vehicles to maneuvre. This makes the skill level required for driving in Asia even higher. So only taxi drivers in Sydney may survive on the roads of say, Shanghai. If you insist on making generalisations you'd say that Asian drivers are more skillful, but also more aggressive and less concerned about road etiquette.

yeah, i was going to say something along the same lines. i know it was like that in manilla, crazy stuff there. i can drive well enough here (i am on reds though, so not that great) but i wouldnt be anywhere near good enough to get anywhere driving in said asian countries as no one gives a fuck and does their own thing.

 

[Drunkass86]

Yes, I think he was right...On the whole, that is. I can personally say that while not every asian is incompetent at driving, the majority are.

For instance, today I saw an asian who had been involved in an accident with a truck. The truck was turning left at an intersection (not a main road thankfully) and so had to use up all the road to turn. The asian ignored what was in front of him and tried to turn left at the same time. He ended up being sandwiched between the kerb and the truck. Luckily, no-one was hurt.

The things I notice about asians when it comes to driving, particularly when there is a moderate to heavy amount of traffic, is that they lose confidence and concentration.

Just because you have a full licence does not make you competant. I term competant by the capacity to react positively and decisively to any situation that pops up. it also means to be acutely aware of your surroundings - like knowing whether there are cars around you, and what they are doing.

I see too many people, and not just asians, on their full licences and fail to have any confidence driving a motor vehicle.

 

[Snaykew]

But their eyes! It's cause of their eyes! John Laws is obviously Jesus reborn and knows such proofs. He deems Asians unable to competently drive due to their eyes. :]

 

[wuddie]

to everyone who has posted and said 'asian drivers are the worst'. no, P platers are the worst. how often do you see in the paper a 'wong' or a 'chan' has died in a car crash? i see P platers and born and bred australian and turn out to be The worst drivers - statistically proven.

had john law said 'some asian drivers are pretty damn terrible' then everyone would be happy, because there is always some fraction of a certain race who are less capable than the others, fair enough. but no, he just said 'i understand that chinese people (forget about asian, he's narrowed it down to chinese now) are the worst drivers'. now how does he know that every asian must be a chinese? he's a freaken genius. to add to the point, he has gone on and commented on their heights and eye sights - tell me that's not generalising, and therefore racism.

it is equivalent to me saying 'lebanese are the most violent people on the face of the planet', because some arabic people cause trouble, and according to john law, we'll just pin it down to the lebs and brand them all violent.

 

[Snaykew]

That's how we roll.

 

[aussiechica7]

re: free speech. if you're going to say something offensive there should b a reason for it, and some reasonable evidence to back it up. i don't think that applies in this case so he shouldn't have said it. he can say "it's just my opinion" but his opinion is stupid, lacks evidence to support it, and contributes nothing beneficial to society by saying it.

(also, some of u know i have issues with religious vilifcation legislation, namely that i believe we should have the right to critique religious practices and beliefs because they are chosen not innate. i don't think this applies to race, so it's not okay to critique races).

 

[onebytwo]

driving skills come down to a persons coordination ability. an unco person is always going to be a worse driver. especially since asians are fluent and capable in the field of martial arts, and can kick 5 guys in the face with the one jump.

 

[2syllables]

to everyone who has posted and said 'asian drivers are the worst'. no, P platers are the worst. how often do you see in the paper a 'wong' or a 'chan' has died in a car crash? i see P platers and born and bred australian and turn out to be The worst drivers - statistically proven

so true....