Taxi driver Gao Haijun was stopped on the morning of December 19 by an anxious couple.

"The woman was about to give birth," Gao said.

He rushed the couple to the closest delivery ward, at the Beijing Friendship Hospital, half an hour away. Despite light traffic he ran several red lights, which are equipped with cameras.

"The woman was crying so loud in my car that I could hardly give a second thought but drove on," said Gao, who works for Xinyue United Company and has been driving taxis for four years.

On arriving at the hospital, Gao realized that the woman had already delivered the baby.

He left them only after learning that both mother and baby were safe and without collecting his fare. But now he fears he may have to pay for his 'good deed'.

Running a red light carries a fine of 200 yuan (US$24) and three points, and a driver who loses 12 points in one year will have his or her license suspended.

According to officials, it takes 10 days to process the tapes from traffic cameras.

Aware of the consequences of breaking the rules, Gao approached a local newspaper, the Beijing Times, hoping the authorities would take extenuating circumstances into consideration.

"But if they insist on the punishment, I will also accept it," said the driver, who earns about 2,000 yuan (US$241) a month.

According to the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, whoever breaks traffic rules should be punished, regardless of the circumstances.

"Unlike ambulances or police cars, taxis are never authorized to run lights at will," said a senior officer.

However, there is still the possibility of lighter fines. He said Gao could apply for a punishment exemption if he was backed by the hospital.

Yi Yanyou, an expert of law at Tsinghua University, said the law always comes first, regardless of emergencies.

There is always a possibility that the driver may have knocked down pedestrians or other cars as he ran the lights, he said. "That would also risk the woman's life."

But he also agreed the authorities should consider reducing the punishment since "laws allow special tolerance when dealing with reality."

Xinyue United Company said Gao will not be penalized by them; normally they charge drivers 20 percent of any fines they have to pay. " The company always encourages upright behavior," said Zhu Jiang, Gao's boss. Zhu said he will talk with the authorities to try to reduce the punishment.

While official opinions are still pending, good news reached Gao the day after the Beijing Times' story was published. The couple, both migrants from Henan Province, expressed their sincere thanks over the telephone to Gao.

They said that, after their baby was born, they were picked up by relatives and returned to their hometown. The husband, named Guo, volunteered to pay his fines, if there should be any.

The manager of a technical consulting firm also called the newspaper with the same offer. "Kindness of this sort does not deserve such treatment. We want to pay for Gao's fines to encourage good deeds in society," he said.

(China Daily December 23, 2004)