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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Car status symbols turn drivers into scofflaws
Source: Xinhua |
December 15, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ABOUT 20 years ago, owning a car was only a dream to many Chinese. Nowadays when more people have their own cars, the "dream" has become a "nightmare."
China recorded 199 million motor vehicles on its roads at the end of September, including 85 million cars, according to the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.
The number of cars is soaring at an astonishing rate. In November, about 1.28 million passenger vehicles were sold in China, up 27 percent from the same period last year.
On the other hand, violations of traffic regulations are frequent ad the number is rising, with the most extreme cases being speeding, drunk driving and hit-and-run accidents.
A drunken 22-year-old hit-and-run driver gained nationwide notoriety by shouting "Sue me if you dare, my father is Li Gang (Ed: Li Gang is a local police chief)." The line became so popular that Internet users worked it into poetry and doggerel.
In October, a college student in Xi'an in Shaanxi Province was condemned and cursed after he stabbed a woman to death after hitting her with his car. The reason he killed the otherwise slightly bruised woman was that he saw her trying to take note of his car's plate number.
The latest case occurred on December 5, when a man in a police uniform hit a retired doctor with his red sedan in Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province. Instead of taking her to a hospital, he assaulted her.
Hundreds of locals surrounded him and prevented him from fleeing. A furious onlooker even dropped a box of beverages from a building onto his car.
Irresponsible - including criminally responsible - drivers make traffic enforcement more difficult.
Bao Baode has been working as a traffic police officer in Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, for some 20 years.
"In the past three years, although more people could afford a car, their awareness of the law and moral standards were not high enough," he said.
Bao recalled that once as trying to stop a car running a red light, the driver suddenly sped up. Bao's colleague was hit and injured.
The case is by no means exceptional. In 2008, a police officer was hailed as the "coolest traffic policeman" after he stood in front of a car to stop it while the driver threatened for several times to hit him and flee.
Bao said lack of traffic police and lenient punishment were among the reasons for the problems.
The debate was set off in 2009 with the sentencing of Hu Bin, a rich man's son who was fiercely criticized for killing a pedestrian while drag racing in Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province.
The accident occurred while he was driving at 84-101 kilometers per hour on a downtown road with a speed limit of 50 miles per hour. He was sentenced to three years in jail on charges of vehicular manslaughter.
American David Tool, who has been teaching English in Beijing for 12 years, says that in the US traffic police are everywhere. They are very polite but also strict.
"Even a small violation can cost you a lot of money," he said, adding that China should be stricter with punishments.
Ma Huaide, vice president of China University of Political Science and Law, said the problem was lax law enforcement. "After a serious accident, if one driver manages to get away with it, he sets a bad example to many others."
"In some countries, private cars have been popular for more than 100 years and are just tools for people," said lawyer Wang Hong. "But in China, owning a car is still a symbol of high social status."
China recorded 199 million motor vehicles on its roads at the end of September, including 85 million cars, according to the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.
The number of cars is soaring at an astonishing rate. In November, about 1.28 million passenger vehicles were sold in China, up 27 percent from the same period last year.
On the other hand, violations of traffic regulations are frequent ad the number is rising, with the most extreme cases being speeding, drunk driving and hit-and-run accidents.
A drunken 22-year-old hit-and-run driver gained nationwide notoriety by shouting "Sue me if you dare, my father is Li Gang (Ed: Li Gang is a local police chief)." The line became so popular that Internet users worked it into poetry and doggerel.
In October, a college student in Xi'an in Shaanxi Province was condemned and cursed after he stabbed a woman to death after hitting her with his car. The reason he killed the otherwise slightly bruised woman was that he saw her trying to take note of his car's plate number.
The latest case occurred on December 5, when a man in a police uniform hit a retired doctor with his red sedan in Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province. Instead of taking her to a hospital, he assaulted her.
Hundreds of locals surrounded him and prevented him from fleeing. A furious onlooker even dropped a box of beverages from a building onto his car.
Irresponsible - including criminally responsible - drivers make traffic enforcement more difficult.
Bao Baode has been working as a traffic police officer in Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, for some 20 years.
"In the past three years, although more people could afford a car, their awareness of the law and moral standards were not high enough," he said.
Bao recalled that once as trying to stop a car running a red light, the driver suddenly sped up. Bao's colleague was hit and injured.
The case is by no means exceptional. In 2008, a police officer was hailed as the "coolest traffic policeman" after he stood in front of a car to stop it while the driver threatened for several times to hit him and flee.
Bao said lack of traffic police and lenient punishment were among the reasons for the problems.
The debate was set off in 2009 with the sentencing of Hu Bin, a rich man's son who was fiercely criticized for killing a pedestrian while drag racing in Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province.
The accident occurred while he was driving at 84-101 kilometers per hour on a downtown road with a speed limit of 50 miles per hour. He was sentenced to three years in jail on charges of vehicular manslaughter.
American David Tool, who has been teaching English in Beijing for 12 years, says that in the US traffic police are everywhere. They are very polite but also strict.
"Even a small violation can cost you a lot of money," he said, adding that China should be stricter with punishments.
Ma Huaide, vice president of China University of Political Science and Law, said the problem was lax law enforcement. "After a serious accident, if one driver manages to get away with it, he sets a bad example to many others."
"In some countries, private cars have been popular for more than 100 years and are just tools for people," said lawyer Wang Hong. "But in China, owning a car is still a symbol of high social status."
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