Speak Up Club 2020.9.14

Topic:Transportation

Highlights,

1. Kristy told us about the face reveals on Big Screen for J- Walkers. I believe public shaming can with pedestrian safety.

2. Kyle was the one to give us the topic due to his story of collision. And he was great in telling the story warning us we should be safe.

3. Joshua told the story about Japanese car blinking twice to say thank you when they let you pass. Such good use of signaling.

4. Tony is apparently a road raging backseat driver. He wouldn’t be angry in the driver’s seat, but would be road raging when he’s a passenger. Weird guy.

5. Annie is irritated to learn driving, because all the yelling from driving coaches, passengers, and other drivers, but she will learn to ride because she loves it.

6. Donna is very keen on travelling by Bullet trains coz it’s faster than cars and more convenient than buses.

7. Kassi told us the improvement of her time spent on going between her university in Xi’an and her home in Lanzhou. It used to take 14 hours, now only 3. Technology is really improving our lives.

8. Adela shared with us the great movie called IronRoad about how Chinese made great contribution on Canadian Railroads. Maybe she will talk about it in our movie sharing session next Monday.

9. Rainbow( English name TBD), often takes the metro because it is very convenient. In her three minute session, she observed a strange phenomena about how her father, being a person with bad temper, but not easily raging when driving. Her uncle, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of her father. I guess people are not always how they seem.

10. Rita thinks vehicles are death machines, and humans are weird to voluntarily putting ourselves in them. I have to disagree. In that sense, I mean, a rock can also be a death machine. We need to use tools, not to turn them weapon.

11. Sarah thinks cars are going a bit too slow. If everyone wants to go faster, the subway is the better option. And I believe it is very true. Would not buy a car in Xi’an just to get stuck in traffic.

12. Karly had been the great photographer for the evening. Not talkative like Tony tonight.

Regardless if you walk, drive, ride, or take the sub, or bus, inevitably, everyone goes on the road. Like Rita was saying, cars can be death machines. It can get dangerous, even if we are careful. The highest cause of death in most developed areas in motor vehicle accidents. Most private cars also pollute the environment. With the dawn of self-driving cars, I believe we must take ourselves as active members in road safety and responsibility. Let’s all take care and discuss more.