Bad drivers face community service penalty

By Song Shengxia

Drivers who violate four specific traffic rules in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province may be forced to perform social service work, in addition to regular penalties, under a proposal by Shenzhen People's Congress.

The proposal, which is expected to be implemented next June, calls for certain repeat offenders to perform at least 30 hours of social work, in addition to suspension of the driver's license and regular penalties, Li Qingchuan, an official with the municipal congress, told the Global Times Monday.

Drivers who have caused a traffic accident that caused injuries to others, drunk drivers, those who flee the scene after hitting someone and speeders, may be forced to care for patients in hospitals, especially victims of traffic accidents and do other chores.

"The traffic control authorities and Shenzhen Volunteer Association will work together to supervise the implementation of the penalties if the proposal is approved," Li said.

Drivers who do not perform the social work will not be allowed to drive again. Those who have attended a three-hour seminar on traffic regulations may get their social work hours reduced.

"The proposal is intended to let law breakers understand the pains and suffering of the vulnerable people and respect others' life," he said.

Li added that the city was inspired by the community service order in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong adopted the community service order in 1984 and the United Kingdom initiated the penalty in 1973. The courts can order convicted offenders to perform up to 240 hours of community service instead of sending them to jail.

In 2002, Nicholas Tse, a Hong Kong star, crashed his Ferrari in a busy section of the city and attempted to cover up the crash by arranging a third man to falsely present himself as the driver. He was sentenced to 240 hours of community service for the scheme.

On the mainland, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province was the first city to impose the penalty on a trial basis in 2001. In the same year, a 17-year-old boy became the first offender in China to receive social work penalty after he stole mobile phones. He worked for a residential community for two months before the prosecutor dropped the theft charge against him.

Li said the Shenzhen authorities expect the proposal to be passed by January and take effect in June.

Local residents applauded the proposal but some enforcement officials questioned how well it could be implemented.

"The concept of social work has not been readily embraced in China and mandatory social work might arouse resentment and embarrassment of law breakers, especially those officials or privileged people," Liu Ping'an, a Shenzhen resident, told the Global Times.

"Attending to patients at hospitals also requires professional training," he said. It's not clear what offenders might be asked to do at hospitals.

However, Chen Shengnong, another Shenzhen resident, said the plan could improve social conduct.

"The offenders will be making contributions to the community and their self-esteem will be less affected," Chen said.

Gao Feng, a police officer at Haidian Traffic Squad in Beijing, told the Global Times that the penalty is more "humane" and effective. "The penalty, if approved, is worth popularizing nationwide," Gao said.

He said offending drivers are rarely involved in post-accident settlement, except for paying compensation to victims in some cases because of improved vehicle insurance coverage policies.

"Fines do not always work as a strong deterrent to drivers, especially rich drivers. Performing social work can deter offending drivers and remind them not to repeat the same mistakes again," he said.

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