Roads in Henan Province in central China are now a little safer after nearly 80 convicted hit-and-run drivers received a lifetime ban from driving. This follows a nationwide crackdown on drunk-driving that was launched last year.
To promote and ensure road safety in Henan province, police have doled out 79 life driving bans. The list of those found guilty was published by the Traffic Management Bureau of Henan Public Security Department last week in Zhengzhou.
They were all involved in hit-and-run accidents, and – worryingly – over a quarter of those punished only had about a year of driving experience. Police say in some cases, the victims were left to die on the road after being abandoned. State media reports say hit-and-run accidents have increased in the province in recent years.
Now staying with the issue of body and organ donations: a local official in the city of Shenzhen has suggested that driving licenses in the city be modified to indicate whether or not the holder is willing to donate organs after his or her death. The official, Li Jiasheng recommended adding the information on the issue of new or renewed driving licenses.
He pointed out that each year around 800 to 900 people die in traffic accidents in Shenzhen alone - of which about one in ten is a driver. He said that while around 5,000 people in the city have registered to donate organs, most of these are patients suffering from terminal disease and in many cases the organs are not suitable.
Li says that in any case far more than this small number of organs are needed for both transplants and medical and scientific research.
The rapid expansion of China's auto sector may be good news for carmakers, but not so good for drivers. In Beijing, there are nearly 4 million cars, and that number is growing by the minute. As a result, congestion is becoming a routine part of daily life, creating pressure for drivers and passengers alike - and sometimes even leading to incidents of road rage.
The city's traffic watchdog says during rush hour, the average car speed on some major roads has plummeted to less than 4 miles hour, making Beijing the slowest city in China - and walking a viable option.
During the 2008 Olympics cars were restricted to driving every second day to reduce traffic and pollution. The system worked according to whether the last digit of their license plate was odd or even. Since then, in an attempt to ease traffic congestion, the city has been operating a similar policy which restricts cars from driving one day out of five - also based on their license plate numbers.
Sitting in traffic for hours or even days might be standard on China’s roads today. Drivers are impatient but future drivers are becoming impatient too. As cars become an affordable middle-class convenience, they’re buying them up. With an expected 200 million cars in the country by 2020, keeping up with infrastructure and staying green could be tough.