The act of, upon reaching a stop light/sign, all the members of a vehicle bail out and dash laps around the car until the light changes or the other people around you get really pissed.

A Chinese Fire Drill is when, at a red light, a group of people hop out their car, switch to different seats as fast as they can, and ride away.

In Detroit], the act of getting out of your car at a stop light and having it be stolen before you can reach the rear bumper.

1. (n) A state of confusion. It is thought that the term was derived when a Royal Navy Ship consisting of a Chinese crew and British officers was set to perform a firedrill. One group of the crew was to carry buckets of water from the port side of the ship to the engine room to extinguish the blaze. Then another team was to take buckets of water from the floor of the engine room and throw it off the starboard side. In the first moments of the drill, things went fine, however, difficulty in translation between the officers and crew caused confusion resulting in the first bucket team taking water from the port side of the ship, and dumping it off the starboard side of the ship while the second team did nothing.

2. (n) When the occupants of a car stop at a traffic light and exit the vehicle to cavort around the car like the lead knife in a knife parade

See also Chinese National Anthem

Used as a euphemism in sports, when in a particular zone there is mass disorganization, confusion, or lack of cohesion.

a racist term that denotes that something is completely haywire. When one says that something is as "hosed up like a Chinese fire drill" it means that there is a massive confusion going on. The complexities and complications of the Chinese language is probably a factor in the use of this term. Still, it's a racist term to use because it implies that Chinese people don't have their shit together. Besides, if you were to see a REAL fire drill in China it probably would be just as orderly as one held in the West, even with the Chinese language being as difficult as it is. Sometimes the term "Polish fire drill" is used to mean the same thing.