Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    MOTORISTS will face a fine of 500 yuan (US$79) and receive three penalty points if they are caught driving in an “uncivilized manner,” including blocking other vehicles deliberately, abruptly changing lanes or changing more than one lane at a time.

    The crackdown followed a recent case that stunned the public, in which a young man in Sichuan Province dragged a female driver out of her car before punching and kicking her in the face, claiming that her sudden lane change forced him to brake suddenly and frightened his 1-year-old child in the back seat.

    Shenzhen traffic police have begun using unmarked vehicles and 30,000 monitoring cameras to tackle such driving habits, from yesterday.

    Motorists who have 12 penalty points added to their driver’s license within one year will lose the license. They will have to take a traffic regulation course and pass an examination before regaining their driver’s license.

    Police issued more than 200 lane-change violations yesterday, the first day of a monthlong special action against such violations.

    Drivers can call (0755) 8333-3333 to report violations.

    A van overturned at around 9:55 a.m. yesterday on Nanping Expressway when giving way to a heavy vehicle, which suddenly changed lanes, police said.

    A survey conducted by Shenzhen traffic police over the weekend showed other drivers abruptly changing lanes and illegally overtaking other vehicles are the main causes for road rage.

    Among 2,027 respondents, 66 percent had been angry at least once because of other drivers driving aggressively or erratically. A field investigation showed that one-third of Shenzhen’s drivers don’t use their blinkers to signal as lane change. Some drivers also aggressively change lanes, cutting others off and causing traffic jams.

    On Shenzhen’s Xinzhou Road between 5:50 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. Saturday, among the 200 vehicles watched, 67 vehicles didn’t signal before they changed lanes, accounting for 33.5 percent of the total. Eight vehicles, 4 percent of the total, cut through more than one lane at one time.

    Other tests by unmarked police vehicles over the weekend showed a similar result.

    The observations were made after a female driver in Chengdu, Lu Qin, was brutally beaten by a male motorist for lane changes during May Day holidays.

    The 35-second video, which went viral on the Internet, was filmed May 3 by a dashboard camera on the car of the male motorist, surnamed Zhang.

    Zhang dragged Lu out of her red Hyundai sedan before throwing her to the ground and kicking her multiple times. Zhang told the local authorities that he assaulted the woman after she changed lanes abruptly and scared his child.

    Zhang was criticized after the video was first circulating on the Internet. However, public opinions soon took a U-turn when footage from the dashboard camera on Zhang’s car went viral on the Internet on Tuesday.

    The three-minute-long video shows Lu suddenly changing lanes in front of the Zhang’s car twice and the two exchanging angry words before both vehicles came to a stop near a flyover on Chengdu’s Third Ring Road, where Zhang assaulted Lu.

    Lu, who is still receiving hospital treatment, made an official apology to the public for her behavior, in a letter carried by the Southern Metropolis Daily yesterday.

    “I sincerely apologize for my reckless and impulsive driving,” Lu said. “I shouldn’t have made any excuse for my behavior and voluntarily accept the punishment. I’m sorry for people whose feelings are hurt in the accident and hope this could be the end of the whole story.”

    In Shenzhen’s first road rage punishment, two men were detained by police for dangerous driving on Beihuan Boulevard on May 8 last year. One of the drivers was furious at the other who changed lanes randomly and blocked his way, and decided to avenge, police said. In a car racing at a maximum speed of 100 kmph, which surpasses the limited speed of 80 kmph on the trunk road, the two drivers competed to overtake each other and forced the other side to take a sudden brake. A passenger on one vehicle even hit the driver of the other vehicle by hurling a water bottle at him. The two vehicles collided three times.

    Last Friday, the Ministry of Public Security called on the public to report road rage to traffic authorities and vowed harsh punishments for aggression on the roads.

    Ministry figures revealed last Friday that more than 80,000 traffic accidents in 2013 were the results of road rage. The number edged up 2.4 percent last year, and this January-April period saw a further increase of 3.7 percent.

    (Han Ximin)