Hangzhou 'Bunny Officer' goes viral for gentle traffic management

A female traffic officer from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, has gone viral online for her "child-soothing" style of traffic management, earning the nickname "Bunny Officer" from netizens, inspired by the rabbit police character in the movie Zootopia.

Li Yuwei, 27, has served as an auxiliary police officer and member of Hangzhou's female traffic police motorcycle unit, directing traffic at the busy intersections of the West Lake scenic area since 2021.

Unlike the typically stern image associated with traffic officers, Li adopts a gentle approach. "What are you looking at? Please turn left," she often tells drivers and pedestrians in a soft tone more like speaking with children than issuing commands.

Li's gentle style is linked to her academic background in early childhood education. After graduating, she worked as a kindergarten teacher for two years before joining the traffic police in 2021.

The job turned out to be different from what Li had imagined. She had to learn to ride a 300-kilogram police motorcycle through the streets at peak traffic hours, guide traffic with precise signals even under scorching sun and torrential rain, and face drivers who initially underestimated her because she was a female officer.

Empathy, she said, is key to her work. "By putting myself in the drivers' shoes and understanding their situations, I can quickly soften my tone, and they are more receptive to my guidance."

Her "child-soothing" style, she said, "makes managing traffic more effective. Drivers already know the traffic rules, but when you explain it gently, they are more likely to accept it — they just need a little nudge."

According to Hangzhou's public security bureau, since 2021, Li has excelled in traffic control, emergency rescue, and community safety education, earning public appreciation.

In the past two years alone, she has participated in more than 30 emergency rescues, including reuniting a lost 7-year-old girl with her parents during rush hour, escorting a lost elderly person home, and helping drivers push their cars out of flooded roads during heavy rain.

One of Li's most memorable rescues occurred on a rainy day in 2023, when an elderly person's heart stopped. Li and a colleague took turns performing CPR on the street until the ambulance arrived and then escorted the ambulance to the hospital through the heavy rain.

"Later the doctor told me the elderly person's heart had stopped in the ambulance. I asked if we failed to save him, and he said, 'No, he's alive because of what you did.' I burst into tears upon hearing that," Li told China Central Television.

"It was cold and raining, and when I stood up, I realized I couldn't feel my legs from my toes to my calves," she recalled.

After her online fame, some accused her of showboating and staging her actions. Though shocked and aggrieved, Li said her focus remains on keeping intersections clear, not crafting a persona.

In December, Li Yuwei was selected as one of the "Most Beautiful Zhejiang Police Officers" by the Zhejiang provincial public security department.