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.

(CRI May 1, 2004)