An underage student posted photos of him and his friends drag racing on his microblog on March 9, mocking Shenzhen traffic police. The student later deleted the posts and apologized. This is the second case involving underage drivers that has attracted the Shenzhen traffic police’s attention in the first quarter of the year.

    On February 18, a Senior 2 high school student boasted about his experience of drag racing on his microblog. The incident was later condemned by Shenzhen traffic police.

    The latest microblog post showing off the drag racing included a picture of 14 motorcycles in a line and provocative words about the traffic police.

    The traffic police soon replied to the post, warning that the behavior was illegal. The student responded with more defiant words saying he was a Shenzhen student and was racing in Longgang District. “We are not adults but we still deserve freedom,” said the post.

    The post immediately drew the attention of netizens and was reposted several hundred times within half an hour. “It’s your own business if you want to be unique or enjoy freedom. But now you are breaking the law. How can one enjoy freedom without the law?” commented one netizen. Other netizens said such defiant behavior should be stopped or corrected with moral education.

    Traffic police subsequently said online that they would check it immediately.

    Minutes later, the student deleted his previous posts and confessed to the police that he had realized his misdemeanor after police contacted him. He apologized for his wrongdoing.

    Local Chinese-language media recently raised concern about illegal driving by high school students.

    On Friday, a 16-year-old Junior 3 student surnamed Yan and his classmate were spotted driving motorcycles in Huanggang Village in Futian District. Yan was stopped by police while his classmate escaped. Yan admitted that he knew that it was against the law but still decided to take a chance.

    Yan said there were a number of students from neighboring middle schools driving motorcycles without permits. He said some students chose to race vehicles on Shennan Boulevard at midnight on Saturday and Sunday when there were few police on duty.

    The city’s traffic police are cooperating with local education bureaus to wipe out illegal underage driving.

    (Zhao Jie)