Chinese people who take to the wheel over the May Day holiday will
have to be extra careful when they hit the road. The country's new
Law on Road Traffic Safety takes effect on the first day of May,
and it stipulates heavier fines on transgressors.
The nation's capital is launching a traffic safety campaign
citywide during the May Day holidays. Director of the Beijing
Traffic Police Bureau, Li Jianhua says the targets will be drunk
drivers and other traffic violators.
"During the May Day holiday, people will probably meet up with
friends and family a lot, so there might be more cases of traffic
violations like drunk driving. We will conduct around the clock
surveillance of traffic especially during the holiday itself."
However, if caught drunk driving or speeding, people will have
to pay much larger fines than before as the country's new Law on
Road Traffic Safety just comes into effect as of this May. As the
number of cars on the road mushroomed, an upgrade to the 16
year-old statute on road traffic management was inevitable.
Experts say the law comes just in time. A senior traffic safety
official in Beijing says the predecessor of the law was unable to
deter 21st century traffic violations.
The official says the transition from a statute to a law means
the rules on road traffic safety have been placed at a higher
level, and that people's right to road use is now protected by the
law.
But unlawful use of the road will face severer penalties. Drunk
driving and breaking red lights account for a large proportion of
road fatalities in China, and violators will be fined up to 50
yuan, a ten-fold increase on before.
To clamp down on hit-and-run incidents, the law says there's no
need to run for fear of high medical compensation bills. A road
rescue fund will pay for any expenses before responsibility is
later identified.
For many, May Day means travel. More people are expected to bump
on the road during the seven-day holiday. If they really bump into
each other, they can rest assured -- there's a new law to protect
them, if they behave. Otherwise, there will be harsher
punishment.
(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2004)
