So, What's It All About, This VR Driver Simulator Training Thing? › Forums › Taking it to the World › China – How to "Cut Through" to get Real Outcomes?
Of course I already know the real answer to this question – "Ask a Chinaman". I have never been there but know plenty who have, and I have worked alongside enough Chinese people to have a high level of respect for the country's citizens.
A senior American businessman and personal friend who travels extensively in China says "they have no rules – if they feel like doing something, they just do! Not sure what a driver training simulator could do when the problem may be much deeper than that.". Now I don't know how accurate / universally true my friend's statements may be, but he is a highly trustworthy and respected executive, so I am thinking he will be right!
One of the things that really added drive to my doing this project was hearing during the 2008 Beijing Olympics that a jumbo jet load of Chinese die every day while driving their cars around. I felt that those of us that can actually make a difference here have a moral responsibility to do something to improve this situation. It is not like that statistic will be an isolated story on the planet! I checked the latest figures in Aug 2016, as part of the "I need to do this thing" rev-up I was giving myself; for a 747-8 jumbo jet China was at 9 a week, USA 1.5 a week, but Australia took 3 months to send a jet load off. There is a lot of sadness and needless loss of life / maiming going around.
Bit of a "Wow eh? and I thought we have a problem in Oz!" moment, actually! I didn't dive into related population differences or miles travelled to try and normalise the data as, if you know one of the numbers, you don't care about those details. I only want the absolute numbers to come down, not the score sheet. There are 430 people on a jumbo jet, if you were wondering. It is going to be a big job to put a decent dent in this, but definitely one we are up for! Now, where is that Chinaman with all the answers to my q….