Crack down on speed monsters

A 25-year-old university graduate, Tan Zhuo, was run down and killed by a speeding Mitsubishi at a pedestrian crossing in Hangzhou on May 7. To check the rising trend of such deaths caused by fast cars, authorities should tighten traffic management to more effectively combat traffic crimes, says an article in Guangzhou Daily. Excerpt:

Causing the loss of a young life, the offender in the above-mentioned accident, Hu Bin, has simply been arrested for a traffic crime and placed under detention.

Under the law, Hu can be sentenced to, at the most, three to seven years in prison. This penalty appears far from sufficient as punishment for Hu's behavior -- of driving cars fast for sheer fun and in disregard of public lives -- since the danger it poses is much more than that of a routine accident.

Our laws are still very lenient to speeding drivers. For repeat offenders, so long as there is no serious casualty, they will be merely fined or stripped of their driving license, instead of being made liable for a criminal offence.

Even if they strike somebody dead, like Hu did in this case, offenders are punished only for a traffic offence. Thanks to the tolerance of our laws, fast cars have become a fashion for some people.

Fast cars have long been the critical part of traffic management, both at home and abroad. To control speedsters and guarantee safety of public life and property, it is necessary to make speeding a criminal offence.

(China Daily 05/13/2009 page8)