Traffic

When I was a child, my favorite ride at Worlds of Fun was Le Taxi Tour, where "guests operated replicas of antiqued taxis." Keen to be able to drive, I saw this as my chance to shine. I could drive this buggy around the park and convince my parents of my amazing driving skills.

The taxis run on a set course, over small hills and around little ponds, following a concrete path with a small track down the middle. The wheels of the taxi fall on either side of the track with maybe a 4-5 feet between the two front wheels. This is the veering space - so that when the driver swerves to the right, within a few feet the left wheel will bump into the track and straighten the car out.

I was probably not as skilled as I thought, because I remember a lot of veering and swerving; a lot of hitting the track and bumping to the left, then hitting the track and bumping to the right. I also remember a lot of jerky starts and sudden stops.

The ride is aptly named, because I compare it to a ride in a Chinese taxi. Once in, the driver asks where you're going. They can never understand what I say, so I hand them paper with the address written. Preferably the address will be written in Chinese. Otherwise, the driver will rather humorously turn the paper upside down and round and round trying to discern what it says. The windows were probably down when you got in, and will probably be rolled up within a few minutes of takeoff - and there seems to be no prohibition against smoking on the job.

Then the ride is full of fits and starts, as the taxi drivers seem immune to most traffic laws. Shanghai's roads are full of appropriate signage - street lights, crosswalks, turn lanes and the like. But rarely are they heeded. There seems to be a hierarchy in the traffic law scheme. Pedestrians are on the bottom - people never cross without a little green man flashing across the way, and even then you look both ways the whole way across. Taxis are near the top - they follow no rules, driving in between lanes, against traffic and before lights turn green. Private cars lie below taxis and above pedestrians, and bikes reign supreme. Few bike riders pay any attention to traffic lights, and most never stop. They don't stop for red lights, they don't stop for cars turning in front of them, and they certainly don't stop for a woman pushing a pretty red stroller. When walking as a family, Dave stays near the front of the stroller to stop bikers from slamming into our children.