Excuse me, can you please get out of third gear?

Most of you already know that I don't drive. I've taken lessons, but my G1 expired awhile ago, and I've never been particularly interested in really learning the art of road travel. That being said, I do know enough about driving to know that staying permanently in third gear is not a great idea, which is apparently the gear that most Chinese drivers like to stay parked in. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when the car starts to rumble and jump, that's a sign that you should be switching gears?? For some reason, Chinese drivers like to try to hit 100km/hr in third gear, which results in a very loud and bumpy ride. Beyond that, Chinese drivers just don't seem to have any concept of road safety! Not only are a lot of taxis/vans/buses falling apart, but the obsession with speed, combined with the desire to pack people into vans/buses like a can of sardines, and the lack of road rules observation means that I spend most of my time on the road with my eyes covered, and muttering prayers under my breath. It seems as though the demarcations of lanes doesn't really mean anything, since drivers regularly straddle two lanes, wander across a six-lane highway without signalling, and often veer into oncoming traffic at extremely high speed, as though they're playing Chicken! Road travel in China is definitely not for the faint-hearted. I'm amazed that I haven't seen a major road accident yet. I can't help to laugh when people back home complain about how crazy Toronto/Montreal drivers are......