China in 'car era' calls for civilized driving
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Bao noted that a lack of traffic police officers could be a reason for the prevalence of traffic violations, and added that leniency in punishment was another reason.
The sentence for Hu Bin, who had been under fierce criticism for killing a pedestrian while drag racing in east China's Hangzhou City, triggered debate in 2009. He drove at speeds from 84 km to 101 km per hour on a downtown road with a speed limit of 50 km per hour, but was only sentenced to three years in jail on charges of vehicular manslaughter.
David Tool from the United States has been living in Beijing as an English teacher for 12 years. He said that in the U.S. there were police everywhere who were very polite, but strict.
"Even a small violation could 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 Sciences and Law, believed that the problem lay with lax law enforcement.
"After a serious accident, if one driver manages to get away with it, he would set a bad example to many others," he said.
As a result, Ma said, more people would come to believe that after causing an accident, if you can give your victim a high compensation or serve time in jail for a short term, at most, the incident is over.
"In some western countries, private cars have been popularized for more than a hundred years. Cars there were just tools to people," said Wang Hong, a lawyer. "But in China," he said, "owning a car was still seen by many people as a symbol of social status."
Wu Zhongmin, a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, especially warned the privileged class to behave themselves. Although drivers from privileged classes were not the only ones involved in serious road accidents, it was easier for them to attract public attention, he said.
Wang Wei, a sociologist with the Chinese Academy of Governance, believes that the anger and denouncement of netizens following each accident shows growth in their social awareness and sense of justice.
On November 28, a college student was killed in a road accident and the driver fled. Hundreds of people surrounded the student to protect her body until the police came.
"Hopefully, the force of ordinary people could boost civilized driving," Wang said.
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