Nanjing’s war on the city’s e-bikers who break traffic regulations is stepping up a gear. A new campaign that warns of the dangers therein, sometimes quite graphically, is underway targeting those who have still not got the message that their lives are in danger.
The accident occurred at 7:45 in the morning of 11 May this year, at the intersection of Yuanxi Lu and Gezhong Lu in Jiangbei New Area. A Mr. Yang slowed his bike for the red light at the intersection. But instead of stopping at the line, Yang first proceeded past it for a few metres. It was to be his final mistake.
The left-turn lane for bicycles and e-bikes is normally located on the right side of the road. Being over the stop line, Yang was then in the blind spot of a large truck turning right. He was crushed and killed instantly.
In the light of this and many other tragedies like it, from now until the end of November, the Nanjing traffic management will carry out their “100-Day Improvement” campaign, aimed at further increasing e-bike traffic safety, reports The Yangtze Evening News.
Favoured by many citizens for their economy, convenience and speed, there are now an unbelievable 4.83 million e-bikes in Nanjing, making the runaround by far the most popular form of transportation. According to statistics, e-bikes accounted for 49.9 percent of accidents in Nanjing in 2019.
A key part of the 100-Day Improvement campaign is the highlighting of dangers posed by failing to follow traffic regulations. By way of example, many an alert reader of this publication will have seen surveillance camera footage of e-bike accidents projected on to large LED screens in the downtown area of Nanjing.
Back in Jiangbei New Area, the traffic police determined that Yang posthumously assume main responsibility for the accident. And that’s what’s new. In the past, drivers of vehicles who struck a pedestrian or someone on two wheels were automatically held to account, irrespective of blame.
Now, e-bike riders get no such special treatment. And it is this fact that the traffic authorities are highlighting in the hope it will make more people think twice before breaking the rules.
At 5:30 in the evening on 5 July, a takeaway deliveryman, surnamed Chen, rode his electric bike on Shuiximen Da Jie from east to west through a red light and collided with a white car traveling from north to south. Chen was knocked to the ground and unable to move. That he was wearing a helmet probably saved his life. Attending traffic police determined that Chen was fully responsible for the accident and now not only has to bear his own medical expenses, but also those for repair of the car.
Accidents aside, according to Article 55 of the “Jiangsu Province Road Traffic Safety Regulations”, e-bike riders who fail to follow traffic lights shall be fined ¥50.
Had Yang not been killed he would have been handed a penalty of ¥20 for coming to a half beyond the stop line.
The ¥20 fine is also that dished out to people riding in the opposing direction to traffic flow. A foreign reporter for this very publication who was doing just that received such a fine several years ago when riding a regular bicycle in the Hexi area of Nanjing.
So while the regulations are nothing new, the 100-Day Improvement campaign is. Cyclists and e-bikers would do well to get used to heeding the rule of law to avoid financial penalty, a possible blemish on their record in the now-infamous Social Credit System and, very possibly, death itself.
