Crackdown on ‘Chinese-Style Street Crossing’ in Zhejiang
by Fauna on Monday, March 25, 2013
by Fauna on Monday, March 25, 2013
From NetEase:
Zhejiang Has Punished Over 8000 Instances of Chinese-Style Street Crossings in 20 Days, With Many Unhappy People Attacking Traffic Police
According to Xinhua News Service, this reporter learned from the Zhejiang Province Department of Public Security that since Zhejiang province started cracking down and strictly punishing 8 types of serious traffic violations from March 1st onward, over 11,000 violations have been already been punished throughout the entire province, amongst which 8,283 were “Chinese-style street crossing” where violators cross during a red light.
Urban traffic and congestion control is the top priority amongst Zhejiang province’s 2013 Top 10 practical matters to be done in service of the people, with 8 various violations affecting traffic order including pedestrians crossing on red lights, driving under the influence, and illegal parking being the first to be cracked down on. The Zhejiang Province Department of Public Security intends to make it 2013′s “1st Operation”, launching it province-wide on March 1st.
During this operation, the most controversial has been the punishment of the two situations of pedestrians crossing the street during a red light and pedestrians crossing the street outside of the crosswalk. According to the Zhejiang Province Department of Public Security bulletin on March 21st, over the past 20 days, these two types of behaviors account for 8,283 and 1,622 of the punishments.
The “Chinese style street crossing” where people “cross once there is a big enough group without regard for the traffic light” became a hot public discussion topic as early as last year, with how to manage it becoming a headache for various major cities. Now, Zhejiang province has regulated that pedestrians pedestrians who are caught on the scene crossing the street during a red light or crossing outside of the crosswalk by traffic police will be fined 5 to 20 yuan, and has furthermore committed a large amount of police manpower, with the this being the first time such a large scope and strict punishment has been implemented [with regards to this type of violation] in the entire country.
This reporter discovered that under such strict enforcement, pedestrians have begun abiding by the rules a lot. However, a small minority of pedestrians continue to disregard the rules as before, with even multiple instances of unwilling-to-be-fined pedestrians attacking and verbally abusing traffic police, and a number of people being arrested as a result. Experts have pointed out that the intent of this is good, but the problems of whether or not the effects of such enforcement will last, whether or not traffic police have the resources to manage the vast numbers of pedestrians, and whether or not pedestrians can change their habits remain to be scene.
