SHENZHEN traffic police have given out 48,050 yuan (US$7,102) to residents who offered help to those who mistakenly entered expressways or trunk roads with heavy traffic.

In the two months after implementing the Helping Hand Action, Shenzhen police received 1,040 reports of such cases by the end of April and handled 610 cases on site.

Police have given awards to 31 people who reported and offered help in these cases.

At an awards ceremony Wednesday, a resident surnamed Yang was awarded 10,000 yuan for helping an 89-year-old woman who was lost in the heavy traffic near Ludancun Metro Station in Luohu District on March 4. A cab driver surnamed Lyu was awarded for helping a young man who was pushing his bike and claimed to be riding to Shanghai in heavy traffic on the Xiangmihu section of Beihuan Boulevard on March 12.

During the May Day holiday, Shenzhen police handled 44 cases in which people had mistakenly entered expressways or trunk roads. The number of traffic accidents involving pedestrians on expressways or trunk roads has dropped by 40 percent year on year from 485 in 2018 to 291 in 2019. (Han Ximin)