(车祸轶事 Chēhuò yìshì)
The cartoon strip appeared the BoHai Morning Post 《渤海早报》last March, and may have been created to promote awareness of the crackdown on drunk driving that began as early as 2007, and which culminated in May of this year in an amendment to law that made drunk driving a criminal act ... One important element of the campaign against drunk driving is that the law applies to everyone equally, no matter who you are (无论是谁 wúlùn shì sheí), if you are caught driving while drunk, you will be punished ...
The three strips tell one story: A BMW hits a pedestrian, and it turns out that the driver is a VIP (president of the victim's company) ... There are many witnesses, but when the crowd realizes who the driver is, because they also work for the company, they are afraid to talk to the police, or tell the truth ... So they blame everything but the driver for the accident ... When the police interview the victim in the hospital, he blames himself ...
The first strip shows a man leaving his house on his way to the office:
"I'm off to work" ("我上班去了" Wǒ shàngbān qùle )
Seeing a man has been hit by car 哇! (Wa!), the crowd shouts "A BMW has hit someone!"
(宝马车撞人了! Bǎomǎ chē zhuàng rén le!）
The crowd realizes the driver is the president of a local company ... He's obviously drunk (his nose is red), and he's with his mistress ...
(啊！是总经理和他的小蜜 Ā! Shì zǒngjīnglǐ hé tā de xiǎomì ...）
The police arrive and ask witnesses to tell all the facts as they saw them ...
(请各位目击者如实讲述你们看到的一切 Qǐng gèwèi mùjīzhě rúshí jiǎngshù nǐmen kàndào de yìqiè),
and the crowd reacts with fear ...
The second strip shows six people blaming everything but the driver:
#1: Blame the road! If they'd planted trees on the road, he'd would have had to drive slower! ...
(这事赖马路。如果路上种满树，开车就低速 Zhè shì lài mǎlù. Rúguǒ lùshang zhǒng mǎn shù, kāichē jiù dī sù)...
#2: Blame the tires! If one of the tires had exploded, he wouldn't have been able to drive the car! ...
(这事赖车胎。如果当时暴车胎， 车就没法开！Zhè shì lài chētāi. Rúguǒ dāngshí bào chētāi, chē jiù méifǎ kāi!) ...
#3: Blame the weather! If the wind had been blowing fiercely against him, he would have been miles away from the person! ...
(这事赖天气。 如果狂风疾又逆， 离人二里地 Zhè shì lài tiānqì. Rúguǒ kuángfēng jí yòu nì, lí rén èr lǐ dì)...
#4: Blame the restaurant! If they'd stayed open late, he would still have been having breakfast! ...
(这事赖饭店。 如果开门时间晚，还在吃早点 Zhè shì lài fàndiàn. Rúguǒ kāimén shíjiān wǎn, hái zài chī záodiǎn) ...
#5: Blame the country's Olympic soccer team! If they were a top-notch team, he would have been buying tickets to the soccer game! ...
(这事赖国奥。 如果踢得呱呱叫， 他在买球票 Zhè shì lài guó ào. Rúguǒ tī dé guāguājiào, tā zài mǎi qiú piào) ...
#6: Blame the price of oil! If the price of oil had gone up, what would he have been doing driving a car?
(这事赖油价。如果再涨好几下，他开车干嘛！Zhè shì lài yóujià. Rúguǒ zài zhǎng hǎojǐ xià, tā kāi chē gān ma!)
In the last strip, the victim's wife is seen at the hospital telling him, "It was the president of your company that hit you!" ...
(开车撞你的是你们公司的总经理 Kāi chē zhuàng nǐ de shì nǐmen gōngsī de zǒngjīnglǐ) ...
When the police interview the victim, he says, "Thank you so much for this opportunity to express myself ...
I blame myself for this accident ... If ..."
(哇！谢谢你们给我表达心情的好机会！这事儿都赖我 如果 Wā! Xièxiè nǐmen gěi wǒ biǎodá xīnqíng de hǎo jīhuì! ... Zhè shìr dōu lài wǒ ... Rúguǒ ...)
And the policeman faints ...
Sources: 《渤海早报》2011-03/13 第23版： “车祸轶事” and the online version
For an overview of the laws declaring drunken driving a criminal act, see the article in English in ChinaDaily: "Public debate on drunk driving penalties," May 17, 2011
For a perspective on "Doesn't matter who you are" ("无论是谁“), see the article in Chinese at legaldaily.com.cn, "公安部关注丹棱官员醉驾案:无论是谁都须依法办案"
The cartoon strip appeared the BoHai Morning Post 《渤海早报》last March, and may have been created to promote awareness of the crackdown on drunk driving that began as early as 2007, and which culminated in May of this year in an amendment to law that made drunk driving a criminal act ... One important element of the campaign against drunk driving is that the law applies to everyone equally, no matter who you are (无论是谁 wúlùn shì sheí), if you are caught driving while drunk, you will be punished ...
The three strips tell one story: A BMW hits a pedestrian, and it turns out that the driver is a VIP (president of the victim's company) ... There are many witnesses, but when the crowd realizes who the driver is, because they also work for the company, they are afraid to talk to the police, or tell the truth ... So they blame everything but the driver for the accident ... When the police interview the victim in the hospital, he blames himself ...
The first strip shows a man leaving his house on his way to the office:
"I'm off to work" ("我上班去了" Wǒ shàngbān qùle )
Seeing a man has been hit by car 哇! (Wa!), the crowd shouts "A BMW has hit someone!"
(宝马车撞人了! Bǎomǎ chē zhuàng rén le!）
The crowd realizes the driver is the president of a local company ... He's obviously drunk (his nose is red), and he's with his mistress ...
(啊！是总经理和他的小蜜 Ā! Shì zǒngjīnglǐ hé tā de xiǎomì ...）
The police arrive and ask witnesses to tell all the facts as they saw them ...
(请各位目击者如实讲述你们看到的一切 Qǐng gèwèi mùjīzhě rúshí jiǎngshù nǐmen kàndào de yìqiè),
and the crowd reacts with fear ...
The second strip shows six people blaming everything but the driver:
#1: Blame the road! If they'd planted trees on the road, he'd would have had to drive slower! ...
(这事赖马路。如果路上种满树，开车就低速 Zhè shì lài mǎlù. Rúguǒ lùshang zhǒng mǎn shù, kāichē jiù dī sù)...
#2: Blame the tires! If one of the tires had exploded, he wouldn't have been able to drive the car! ...
(这事赖车胎。如果当时暴车胎， 车就没法开！Zhè shì lài chētāi. Rúguǒ dāngshí bào chētāi, chē jiù méifǎ kāi!) ...
#3: Blame the weather! If the wind had been blowing fiercely against him, he would have been miles away from the person! ...
(这事赖天气。 如果狂风疾又逆， 离人二里地 Zhè shì lài tiānqì. Rúguǒ kuángfēng jí yòu nì, lí rén èr lǐ dì)...
#4: Blame the restaurant! If they'd stayed open late, he would still have been having breakfast! ...
(这事赖饭店。 如果开门时间晚，还在吃早点 Zhè shì lài fàndiàn. Rúguǒ kāimén shíjiān wǎn, hái zài chī záodiǎn) ...
#5: Blame the country's Olympic soccer team! If they were a top-notch team, he would have been buying tickets to the soccer game! ...
(这事赖国奥。 如果踢得呱呱叫， 他在买球票 Zhè shì lài guó ào. Rúguǒ tī dé guāguājiào, tā zài mǎi qiú piào) ...
#6: Blame the price of oil! If the price of oil had gone up, what would he have been doing driving a car?
(这事赖油价。如果再涨好几下，他开车干嘛！Zhè shì lài yóujià. Rúguǒ zài zhǎng hǎojǐ xià, tā kāi chē gān ma!)
In the last strip, the victim's wife is seen at the hospital telling him, "It was the president of your company that hit you!" ...
(开车撞你的是你们公司的总经理 Kāi chē zhuàng nǐ de shì nǐmen gōngsī de zǒngjīnglǐ) ...
When the police interview the victim, he says, "Thank you so much for this opportunity to express myself ...
I blame myself for this accident ... If ..."
(哇！谢谢你们给我表达心情的好机会！这事儿都赖我 如果 Wā! Xièxiè nǐmen gěi wǒ biǎodá xīnqíng de hǎo jīhuì! ... Zhè shìr dōu lài wǒ ... Rúguǒ ...)
And the policeman faints ...
Sources: 《渤海早报》2011-03/13 第23版： “车祸轶事” and the online version
For an overview of the laws declaring drunken driving a criminal act, see the article in English in ChinaDaily: "Public debate on drunk driving penalties," May 17, 2011
For a perspective on "Doesn't matter who you are" ("无论是谁“), see the article in Chinese at legaldaily.com.cn, "公安部关注丹棱官员醉驾案:无论是谁都须依法办案"
RSS Feed