JOY FOR THE ELDERLY
Laotoule automobiles started showing on roads in China within the early 2000s and right this moment are one of the common types of transportation for seniors, with greater than 10 million in inventory in 2020, based on trade information.
Priced between 2,000 yuan ($276) and 22,000 yuan, they’re much cheaper than standard automobiles and vans, and are straightforward to park and drive.
Furthermore, they don’t require licenses or car registration and usually are not topic to visitors guidelines and rules that apply to most standard motor automobiles, which provides to their reputation.
But their presence is controversial.
Accidents are alarmingly frequent, and their unregulated use has just lately led to widespread bans in a number of main Chinese cities.
Between 2012 and 2016, authorities nationwide reported practically 20,000 deaths resulting from crashes associated to low-speed electrical automobiles.
After greater than 100 fatalities recorded in 2022, laotoule automobiles have been banned in Beijing earlier this 12 months, not allowed on roads or parked in public areas.
Incidents in Laotoule in different Chinese cities and provinces continued.
An accident was reported in late November within the metropolis of Ganzhou within the southeastern province of Jiangxi, by which an aged Laotoule driver recklessly bumped into visitors and injured one other driver of an electrical car.
This sparked a citywide crackdown, resulting in the seizure of greater than 2,000 Laotoule automobiles and the phasing out of a whole lot.
In Sichuan, the place authorities solely allowed registered and licensed laotoules to journey, a tragic accident occurred on a serious freeway on October 12. A 74-year-old man drove his Laotoule the mistaken means into the quick lane, inflicting a deadly crash. which price two lives.
Many drivers in Laotoule usually function with out correct licenses and have been “much less prone to comply” with visitors guidelines, which creates better security dangers, mentioned Wang Yuanyuan, city public transport guide, additionally common supervisor of Easy Traffic firm Consulting based mostly in Shanghai.
“These automobiles usually fail to fulfill automotive security requirements, reminiscent of structural integrity and occupant safety (and) within the occasion of an accident, these deficiencies can lead to extra critical casualties,” Wang mentioned, noting that poor battery high quality and insufficient charging services may additionally pose fireplace dangers.
“Furthermore, insurance coverage methods usually are not properly established, making it troublesome to handle the results of accidents.”
Zhang Xiang, director of the Research Center on International Cooperation in Digital Automotive on the World Digital Economy Forum, echoed these considerations. “Without a license, many drivers merely ignore visitors guidelines,” he mentioned.
“If drivers commit violations and flee, it’s troublesome to penalize them. They disrupt visitors order and have an effect on street security.”
Zhang famous that Laotoule’s gross sales have been “declining” after the automobiles have been banned in Beijing earlier this 12 months. “Today many locations are regulating these kinds of automobiles not like previously, once they operated in a grey space,” he mentioned.
Even although drivers like Huang acknowledged the protection points with their automobiles, giving them up wasn’t an choice as a result of they have been nonetheless an inexpensive and handy method to get round.
“From a security perspective, it is comprehensible to need these automobiles to be registered and insured, however in some circumstances that is simply not potential,” Huang mentioned.
