Are Asian born people in Australia bad car drivers? It is a stereotypical view but most stereotypes happen for good reasons.
I find many Asian drivers to be overly cautious, hesitant, slow to react, inclined to stay a lot below the speed limit and at times generally puzzling in their road behaviour. Does that make them bad drivers? No, it only cites them as cautious and careful and I suspect the crash stats of the aforesaid are below average. Some may say in the manner of Mr Magoo, they might leave a trail of destruction behind them, caused by frustration.
Tradie Brother recently ran into the back of a Chinese born driver. He said she slammed her brakes on in the middle of an intersection because she thought it looked like someone was going to turn in front of her. Tradie Brother saw enough to say that the other driver was trying to bluff his way around the corner. He readily admitted guilt, bent her car's rear mudguard off her tyre and both were on their way. Insurance paid. All very amicable.
Tradie Brother is not an aggressive driver and nor is ABI Brother. Sister and myself are the aggressive drivers in our family, me mostly when I am on the way home from work. That I can't buy a Kalashnikov in Australia has saved many lives. I can tolerate bad driving. It is the stupid driving that gets under my skin. Mostly I am fairly relaxed. I make sure I leave plenty of time so that I am not in a rush and can tolerate fools who drive at 40km/h in a 70 zone. Though I do rather tire of having to toot the horn to alert the driver in front that the light has turned green, unnoticed by them because they are doing something with their phone. That is when a need the Kalashnikov.
I am acquainted with a person who sells new European cars in an area growing with wealthy Asian born, mostly Chinese mainlanders. One such good customer brought her ever so expensive car in for servicing and asked the person of my acquaintance to reverse park her car into an available space. He obliged and the car had all the bells and whistles, reversing cameras, audible signals for close proximity and front sensors. Madame, he asked, why do you find reverse parking so difficult? She replied, I have never reverse parked. He asked, but what about for your driving license test?
And here is the the crunch. Although she is an Australian resident and has been for some time, she doesn't have an Australian driving licence. She uses an international driving licence, which I understand are only valid for three months in Australia, and then you have to sit a driving license test.
While there is corruption in Australia, it is ever so much worse in other countries and China is a shining beacon. The said lady orders her successive international driving licences from China, always dated appropriately so that she never has to sit an Australian driving licence test. She pays to circumvent our law and it is very wrong that money can buy a person a position above the law.
In contrast a few years ago, an Asian student friend was so very proud of getting his Victorian driving license. He left Australia, back to Singapore, soon after and I can't see him needing his Victorian driving license in the future.
Clearly I am becoming a grumpy old man, if I am not already, but I just don't like our laws to be so laxly enforced. By golly, if I had a little bit of power, I'd be a little dictator, I would.