Han Ximin
POLICE are encouraging people to take pictures of traffic violations and send them to police as evidence.
The photos should clearly show the color, plate number of the vehicles, and the time and place of the traffic offenses.
The photos should be sent within five days of an alleged offense, a Shenzhen traffic police news conference was told yesterday.
Police will impose penalties after the photos are verified and confirmed with the drivers or car owners.
The violations include minor offenses such as illegally changing lanes and occupying bus lanes, Shenzhen traffic police spokesman Xu Wei told the conference. No rewards will be given.
Serious violations such as fleeing the scene of an accident, driving without or with a false license, involvement in duplicating, and forging and sale of false car plates could earn the informant a reward of up to 20,000 yuan (US$3,000).
People providing information leading to the arrest of hit-and-run drivers would be eligible for a reward of up to 20,000 yuan depending on the damage and casualties in accidents.
Police had allocated 1.5 million yuan this year to cover rewards, Xu said. But he warned that those maliciously doctoring photos or providing false evidence would be detained for up to 10 days and fined 1,000 yuan.
Police checked 18,748 traffic violations such as illegally changing lanes through monitoring cameras in the week to Tuesday after a special campaign was launched March 15.
Police also revealed yesterday that motorists who commit traffic offences such as speeding in other cities in Guangdong province can now pay fines at police counters in Shenzhen.
The service covers 12 counties and cities including Yangjiang, Jiangmen, Heyuan, Maoming, Zhongshan, Zhanjiang, Nansha, Meizhou, Qingyuan, Dongguan, Huizhou and Yunfu.
Fines below 200 yuan can be paid directly through a bank. Fines above 200 yuan, or offences involving vehicles registered outside Guangdong, the offenders need to **provide confirmation letters??*** identify themselves??*** to local police before paying the fines.
Photos can be sent to 106-5022-2002-222, a multimedia message service opened by police, to receive reports from today.
