A MAN in Nanshan District submitted an application for a penalty exemption to the district traffic police authorities, becoming the first applicant after the city’s traffic police bureau introduced the penalty exemption policy earlier this week, Chinese-language media reported Thursday.

    Under the new policy, local motorists can apply for an exemption from a fine of up to 500 yuan (US$80) and penalty points for their first violations since Jan. 1 this year provided they don’t have any traffic violations on record from the past two years.

    The Nanshan man, identified as Jiao, said he had committed no traffic violations since Dec. 26, 2012, when he was issued a ticket for illegally parking on Yuyuan Road in Nanshan District. On Feb. 7 he was issued another ticket for illegal parking. Jiao parked his car illegally on a road outside the housing estate where he lives because he couldn’t find any parking spaces in the estate’s garage. He applied to have the 500-yuan fine waived.

    Nanshan District traffic authorities said that an exemption will be granted within 15 days after Jiao’s application has been verified and processed.

    A total of 78 car owners submitted their exemption applications Wednesday.

    Jiao praised the new policy, which he said encourages motorists to be more careful while driving and follow traffic regulations.

    According to statistics from the traffic police bureau, about 20,000 local drivers are eligible for the punishment exemption, the first of its kind in the country.

    However, the violations eligible for exemption are those considered minor, like illegal parking, running a red light for the first time or illegally crossing a dividing line, according to traffic police.

    “The applicants must be car owners and their violations must not have caused any accidents,” said Song Xuehua, a traffic police officer with the municipal traffic police bureau, adding that the move is meant to encourage drivers to form good driving habits and obey traffic rules.

    Online and phone applications will not start until April.

    Exempted violations will still be recorded in the traffic police’s database, said Wang Haidi, deputy chief of the Legislative Affairs Department of Shenzhen Municipal Traffic Police Bureau.

    “If the violations involve penalty points, the penalty points added to the driver’s licenses will be automatically canceled when their applications for exemption are approved,” he said.

    The city has reported more than 250,000 traffic violations since January this year.

    (SD News)