Unnecessary salutation

Authorities are using an outdated feudal idea to educate students about how to safely walk on the road, says an article on the website of People's Daily. The following is an excerpt:

It was reported that Huangping county of Guizhou province has asked primary and secondary school students to salute whenever they see a passing car. In fact, the local government has forced the students to do so since 2004. Now students are well in the habit of saluting passing cars.

If not for the media report, we may not have found out about Huangping county's ridiculous demand. Actually, the county is not alone. Several similar codes have been imposed by local governments across China in the past years, all requiring students to salute passing cars.