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Home arrow Alice Poon arrow All Categories arrow 70 MPH Becomes an Internet Catch Phrase
70 MPH Becomes an Internet Catch Phrase Print E-mail
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Written by Alice Poon   
Friday, 15 May 2009

A news article in Southern Metropolis Daily titled "The Internet Fever Over a Deadly Race Car Accident Has Not Died Down – ‘Hangzhou 70 MPH’ Has Become a New Internet Catch Phrase".


Here is my slightly abridged translation of the news article:- 

"So far in 2009, netizens have for the third time used a T-shirt to express their opinion. The first time was the widespread comic picture with a subtitle 'Undress – it’s your turn' (脫吧, 到你了) (The issue in question was the popular demand for government officials to disclose their wealth and assets.) The second time was about Chongqing netizens opposing a public road toll raise. This time is the 'Hangzhou Traffic Police 70 MPH' incident. 

The number 70 has become the new favorite in numbers. If you enter 70 into the Baidu search engine, the first search result would be 'A police report says that the speed of the car involved in the May 7 traffic accident was 70 MPH.' The first three search results all say the same thing: University graduate Hu Bin’s speeding car in a crowded area killed a youth named Tan Zhuo; traffic policemen quoted in a press conference Hu Bin and his friends as saying the speed of his car at the time was 70 MPH; this caused an angry uproar on the internet. 

At the May 8 press conference, the answer given by the police, when asked whether there was any evidence of the car speed when the accident happened, was that 'According to the statement of the driver, the car speed at the time was around 60 to 70 MPH; the drivers of two other cars at the scene also said the speed was about 70 MPH.' Immediately one of Tan’s co-workers pointed out that many eyewitnesses had indicated that the car speed was over 100 MPH. 

Some media reports have pointed out that the accident victim was thrown in the air 5 meters high and 20 meters far. Many netizens think that a speed of 70 MPH could not have done that. 


When professional car racer Han Han talked about this in his blog, he said according to his personal judgment, the car speed could have been 100 to 130 MPH. He commented thus about the traffic policemen’s allegation of 70 MPH: 'How could they have come up so quickly with an estimation of 70 MPH – it’s only because the man involved said so. 70 MPH is just in an area of doubt whether the speed was over the limit by 50%. If the speed were over 75 MPH, it would be a different matter altogether. Normally, traffic policemen would not have come to a preliminary conclusion this quickly. It is apparent that they want to influence public opinion in order to help the person involved.'

This reporter has observed that after the accident, many netizens on some very popular discussion forums have changed their icon image into the words ’70 MPH’ and ‘Very Fast, Very Violent’ (很快很暴力). One netizen forecasts that 'Hangzhou Traffic Police 70 MPH' will become the new internet catch phrase in 2009. He even suggests that products like T-shirts and car stickers bearing the logo ’70 MPH’ will soon be available in the market. 

Apparently, that forecast is turning into reality. 

Yesterday, two types of T-shirts printed with '70 MPH' appeared in the Taobao online shop.

Regarding the '70 MPH' T-shirts, one netizen on the 19th Floor Forum mentioned that he was hoping the proceeds from the sale of the T-shirts could be used to help the parents of Tan Zhuo. He said: 'The internet, TV and newspapers have spent enough time showing concern about this case; they have spent enough time feeling angry about it. It’s time to do something positive for the Tan family. The livelihood of Tan’s parents should have been the greatest concern for Tan…. And it’s Mother’s Day – I sincerely hope Tan’s mother will be able to step out of the darkness….'

 

According to a report in Qianjiang Evening News, in the early morning of May 12, the Hangzhou traffic police began, in the company of several car speed experts, to investigate the accident scene to ascertain the car speed at the time of the accident."

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it's 70km/h
written by hanghan , May 20, 2009
In China, people like to say 'ma' when refer to the speed unit km/h. 'ma' is derived from the English word 'mile' because of their similar pronunciation, but people don't pay attention to the real length difference between mile and kilometer. They just use 'ma' for convenience. What they actually refer to is km/h.
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written by Inst , May 17, 2009
Yeah, MPH may make sense as a way of localizing content for American (and British?) readers, but it's common knowledge that only the United States uses the imperial system as its primary system of weights and measures. So even for the average American reader there's a sense of incongruity.
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For D Nicol and jumpy
written by Carwyn , May 16, 2009
@D Nicol - The issue is more that the police are trying to protect the driver of the car, not pursue justice. The only witness they used on the reports was the driver and his racing friends. Ignoring what all eye-witnesses were saying. Cause the kid has money. Also stuff like saying 'the car was not modded' when the cars pictures are online and it's all modded up. The reason 70 is important is because the sentences for going over 75 are much more severe (especially for a repeat offender like this driver) and if he was going 100+ he should be in jail for a good few years (when you add in the death of the civilian).

@jumpy - It's MPH.
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I don't understand
written by D Nicol , May 16, 2009
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't get it. What is the issue? Are the police supposedly covering up something of significance? Please explain why this is a rallying point.
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Fast T-shirts 70 MPH
written by Spelunker , May 15, 2009
I can't wait for the proliferation of "赵紫阳" (Zhao Ziyang) T-shirts across mainland China.
Meanwhile, I have an idea for another T-shirt in Hangzhou: Put a stick image of a man about 6 inches above a race car with the following phrase underneath: 上有天堂，下有速夯 smilies/wink.gif
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written by Josh2 , May 15, 2009
You mean km/h?
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70 Miles Per Hour or 70 Kilometres Per Hour?
written by jumpy , May 15, 2009
big difference...
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Alice Poon


To share readings and thoughts on current events, land use and land policy in Hong Kong & China, social justice and civic rights, and other incoherent thoughts.


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Alice is the author and publisher of the book “Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong”, which was featured as Editor’s Choice: Scholarly for September/October 2007 by Canadian Book Review Annual. The full review can be found in the November 1, 2007 blogpost under her original blog, which she started in August 2007 and was relocated here in late October 2007. She has also been a contributor of articles to Asia Sentinel since August 2006 and had previously been a financial journalist with Stockhouse Media.


Prior to her writing stint, Alice worked in the property development industry in both Hong Kong and Canada for over 20 years. Previous to that, she had been involved with the establishment of Hong Kong’s first and only Commodity Exchange.

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