A different set of highway codes

Spectacular examples of road rage are making it into the evening news with alarming frequency. With the temperature rising as summer sets in, you can be sure there will be more, not fewer, of such outbursts.

In the big gridlock of the Chinese capital, crowded roads and impatient drivers that have little regard for the highway code make a lethal combination. Being a traffic policeman in China has become a high-risk occupation, right next to battered doctors and nurses.

They face the wrath of drunken drivers who would rather run them down than stop for a breathalyzer test. Or they get beaten up by rude, abrasive drivers who run traffic lights, make illegal turns and hurl abuse at the cops if stopped.