We’ve all experienced it. Not so patiently waiting while someone takes an eternity to squeeze their e-bike into the lift in which we’re standing. But now, if they refuse to get out upon our command, they’re in for a hefty fine.
On 1 November was implemented the update to Nanjing’s safety regulations, first formulated in 2011.
And that update states that if an e-bike enters a passenger lift and its owner refuses to listen to dissuasion, they can be fined up to ¥1,000. The revision is being billed as a “response to public concerns”, reports The Paper.
And a necessary move considering today’s degree of urbanisation in Nanjing that has put elevator safety in a new situation.
According to officially disclosed data, as of September this year, the total number of lifts in Nanjing was 122,400, representing a growth of 8 percent over last year. Last year alone, there were 7,169 elevator failures, leading to the rescue of 12,343 people trapped therein by fire rescue personnel.
“Over the past decade, great changes have taken place in the production, sales, use, maintenance, inspection, supervision and inspection, and emergency disposal of elevators. The original regulations do not meet the current needs and need to be revised urgently”, said Wang Jianhua, chairman of the Financial and Economic Committee of Nanjing Municipal people’s Congress.
It’s not just the e-bikes in the cross hairs of the regulatory update. The prohibition clause also stipulates that those carrying just the e-bike’s battery into a lift may also face a fine, possibly ¥200.
With the fire rescue department responsible for dishing out the fines, the question becomes, “What do we do with our new-found powers?”.
There will no doubt some, those without e-bikes in all likelihood, who will relish in admonishing offenders, hopeful of putting a grand-sized hole in somebody’s wallet.
But so too there shall be those with other ideas. So look out for e-bike owners asking you to club together with them, promising to not dob each other in.
