JOY FOR THE ELDERLY
Laotoule autos started showing on roads in China within the early 2000s and right this moment are one of the vital in style types of transportation for seniors, with greater than 10 million in inventory in 2020, in accordance with trade knowledge.
Priced between 2,000 yuan ($276) and 22,000 yuan, they’re much cheaper than typical automobiles and vans, and are straightforward to park and drive.
Furthermore, they don’t require licenses or car registration and will not be topic to visitors guidelines and rules that apply to most typical motor autos, which provides to their reputation.
But their presence is controversial.
Accidents are alarmingly frequent, and their unregulated use has lately led to widespread bans in a number of main Chinese cities.
Between 2012 and 2016, authorities nationwide reported practically 20,000 deaths as a consequence of crashes associated to low-speed electrical autos.
After greater than 100 fatalities recorded in 2022, laotoule autos had been banned in Beijing earlier this 12 months, now 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, wherein 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 autos and the phasing out of a whole bunch.
In Sichuan, the place authorities solely allowed registered and licensed laotoules to journey, a tragic accident occurred on a significant freeway on October 12. A 74-year-old man drove his Laotoule the improper means into the quick lane, inflicting a deadly crash. which price two lives.
Many drivers in Laotoule typically function with out correct licenses and had been “much less prone to comply” with visitors guidelines, which creates higher security dangers, mentioned Wang Yuanyuan, city public transport guide, additionally common supervisor of Easy Traffic firm Consulting primarily based in Shanghai.
“These autos typically fail to fulfill automotive security requirements, resembling structural integrity and occupant safety (and) within the occasion of an accident, these deficiencies may end up in extra severe casualties,” Wang mentioned, noting that poor battery high quality and insufficient charging services might additionally pose fireplace dangers.
“Furthermore, insurance coverage methods will not be properly established, making it tough to handle the implications of accidents.”
Zhang Xiang, director of the Research Center on International Cooperation in Digital Automotive on the World Digital Economy Forum, echoed these issues. “Without a license, many drivers merely ignore visitors guidelines,” he mentioned.
“If drivers commit violations and flee, it’s tough to penalize them. They disrupt visitors order and have an effect on highway security.”
Zhang famous that Laotoule’s gross sales had been “declining” after the autos had been banned in Beijing earlier this 12 months. “Today many locations are regulating these kinds of autos not like up to now, after they operated in a grey space,” he mentioned.
Even although drivers like Huang acknowledged the protection points with their autos, giving them up wasn’t an choice as a result of they had been nonetheless an affordable and handy strategy to get round.
“From a security perspective, it is comprehensible to need these autos to be registered and insured, however in some instances that is simply not attainable,” Huang mentioned.
