"Lawful Laowai" Teaches Proper Driving to Chinese by Shaming Them

China's ongoing campaign to promote traffic safety awareness has directed its attention towards misbehaving expats as a method to educate the Chinese public. And, as it turns out, the same lesson can be taught using the exact opposite example ...

An expat in Chengdu is being hailed as a role model for his habit of chasing down and confronting drivers he catches violating traffic rules on local roads.

Forty-year-old Peter began taking the law into his own hands when he was living in Hainan three years ago when a taxi refused to the give right of way to pedestrians. Since relocating to Chengdu, Peter has continued to force drivers to stop if he sees them driving the wrong way down the street, or run red lights.

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Most drivers immediately admit their fault and apologize to the "loud, burly man with blond hair." However, if drivers don't promise Peter to be more careful, the Kiwi expat will take a photo of their license plate and report them to the local police.

Even though he has been granted no special police powers, Peter still thinks it's his duty to keep Chengdu's streets safe. "Rules are rules," Peter told the Chengdu Economic Report. "China's public roads are beautiful, and we need to give them the respect they deserve."

Peter admits that expats in China are prone to breaking traffic rules, and that during his time as "traffic vigilante" he has caught an American running a red light.

But there's no end to the work that needs to be done. "Even if half the people follow the rules, the other half won't, and that is a mess of a problem," he said.

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Peter is the exact opposite (and then some) of the various expats that have been highlighted by the Chinese media for breaking the rules. Because expats are believed to have a "higher awareness of the law" by Chinese people like Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun, they are assigned more blame than the average Chinese rule breaker who "doesn't know any better." This greater attention has even resulted in Shanghai police giving a "special class" to local expats last year, thereby becoming a lesson for all.

In that case: How can expats that break the law and an expat that zealously follows it both be used to educate the Chinese public? The difference is that while the former are used to ensure the public that no part of its society is above the law, the latter serves as a humiliating reminder that shames Chinese people into submission.

Peter's acts of selflessness for the greater good are shameful for China because of what Chinese regard him: an outsider.

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One person wrote in a comment: "Our own country requires foreigners to come here to make things right; what a crying shame," while another said, "For those of you who need laowai to come here to take of things, don't you find it shameful?" Yet another person went so far as to say: "This guy loves China more than some Chinese people."

Chinese netizens praised Peter with the highest compliments they could think of. One person said: "Would really like for him to be issued a permanent residence card," while another said: "As welcome as these kinds of laowai are in China, it's rare to find them."

Other netizens said more Chinese should take after Peter: "This old laowai fellow loves Great China so much, and gives so much to the Chinese people. So what is our reason for not doing (what he wants)?"

Peter's worldview is succinctly explained in his WeChat motto: "Truth is truth, even if no one believes it; A lie is a lie, even if everyone believes it."

READ: Is it Offensive to Be Called a Laowai?

Peter isn't the only expat who has come to China only to object to its chaotic driving. 

Two years ago, an expat who simply had enough decided to block a car from driving down a Beijing bicycle lane while a separate but similar incident also saw an expat stand up to a taxi driver who also tried to sneak down a Beijing bike lane.

Likewise, Chengdu locals could only stop and stare when an expat took matters into his own hands and stopped traffic in order to allow an ambulance pass in gridlock traffic. Along the same lines, an expat in Guiyang last year made rush hour traffic move more orderly by standing in the middle of the road, yelling at passing motorists (video).

But if expats are in fact paragons for Chinese to model themselves after, the gap may simply be too wide to cross. As one Chinese commenter had previously said, "(I don’t) dare to do this (myself) because I’m not a laowai. A Chinese (who did this) would surely get beaten up."

More stories from this author here.

Twitter: @Sinopath

Images: Chengdu Economic Report