TWO drivers were each fined 500 yuan (US$75) for failing to move their vehicles from the scene of a minor collision, causing a traffic jam on a road in Bao an District on Tuesday morning.
They were the first drivers to be fined since the traffic police authority on Monday started imposing fines on drivers involved in minor accidents who fail to move their vehicles.
The drivers were also fined 300 yuan each for straddling the lane-dividing line and each had three points deducted from their driver s license.
Surveillance camera footage showed a collision between a car and a van at about 9 a.m. The drivers didn t move their vehicles to the roadside, but instead started to argue, reducing the two-lane auxiliary road to one lane and forcing other vehicles to move slowly.
When police asked them to move their vehicles, the drivers insisted police officers mediate the dispute, saying that otherwise they would not move. Traffic continued to back up.
At about 9:20 a.m., another two minor collisions occurred on the same road. Drivers involved in these accidents took pictures of the accident scenes as evidence and moved their vehicles to the roadside.
The drivers later had the damage assessed and lodged insurance claims without hampering traffic.
When traffic police officers arrived at about 9:21 a.m., the car and van drivers involved in the first collision were still quarreling. Two minutes later, police persuaded them to move their vehicles to the roadside.
The car driver, identified as Wu, said his car had done just 1,000 kilometers. Who would not feel distressed if his new car was damaged? Wu said.
Both Wu and the van driver, who was not identified, said they had learned their lesson.
Traffic police reminded drivers involved in minor collisions to call the police, collect evidence and quickly move their vehicles to avoid being fined.
There were 1.8 million vehicles in Shenzhen, including 200,000 vehicles registered outside the city, by the end of September. This figure is thought to be increasing by 15 percent a year.
(SD News)
