China
21:27, 18-Aug-2017
Tianjin begins penalizing shared-bike users who violate traffic laws
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China's bike-sharing industry has exploded from virtually nothing into a transport phenomenon in major cities. But growing use of these bikes has also increased the risk of traffic accidents.
In the southern city of Shenzhen, for example, the number of accidents involving bikes has gone up by 80 percent this year. So it’s little surprise that authorities are imposing regulations on the two-wheelers.
Users of shared bikes who violate traffic laws will be temporarily barred from using these services for at least a week, under a new penalty system adopted by traffic police in Tianjin, north China.
The new system was implemented on Wednesday with the activation of an information sharing platform between the Traffic Control Bureau and dockless bike-sharing companies. Traffic officers will write tickets for cyclists who break the law and also record the riders' personal information on the platform to verify the users' identities with bike-sharing companies.
Upon receiving information about traffic violators from the Traffic Control Bureau, bike-sharing companies will enact the following penalties: One traffic offense committed within one year will result in a one-week ban for the user; two offenses within one year will result in a two-week ban; three or more offenses in one year will result in the user being banned one month for each additional offense.
It is not known how many people have been penalized under the new system so far.