I recently read an article in Business Insider( with the above quoted title) delineating the economic/social reasons why Chinese drivers supposedly intentionally kill the pedestrians whom they had just accidentally hit. Over the years I have heard rumors of this phenomenon occurring here in the P.I. but never really took these stories seriously. Has anyone here ever witnessed such a thing or is this just yet another urban legend slandering an ethnic group?
I've heard the stories that it is cheaper to pay for a funeral than for long term hospital/disability care but I don't really believe that it happens much at all. You would think that as much as people claim it happens that someone would have screwed up by now and got themselves on camera backing over someone to finish the person off.
Here( if it's ok w/ Wrye to post) is the Original article from Slate ( Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit: China’s laws have encouraged the hit to kill phenomenon. ). It includes graphic security cam footage.
I don't think those things are as common in the Philippines. Filipinos are heavy on social media and the videos would be passed around and people would flip out. The victim's family would have evidence of who killed their loved one and charges would be brought against them.....and if charges weren't brought against the driver the family would likely have the driver killed in retaliation. The only people I could see getting away with this type of thing are the rich....and they are a very small minority of drivers in the Philippines.
When I first went out to Africa in the 70s, my boss said to me 'If you hit anyone out in the bush, better to back up and make sure they're dead'. Fortunately I never had the need to check. I do know personally of two incidents where a vehicle knocked down a pedestrian close to a village, and the locals tried to lynch the driver. Once in Ethiopia and once in Nigeria.
Some years ago in Spain, I had an accident through a Stupid young Spaniard doing a Motorcycle Wheely on the Autovias (Motorway/Freeway) My friend wanted to kill the Youngster, However the Guadia Civil came on scene and Took over. During the Conversation the Guardia Officer told us, If you kill anyone, Hide the Body well, we don't like the paperwork We Laughed but he said hey guys, 30 years ago in General Franco's days that would be how it was done! So maybe Just maybe, there can be some truth here JP
