The management and control of 780,000 motorcycles in the capital of South China's Guangdong Province have stepped up a gear as officials battle traffic accidents and pollution.
The Traffic Police Office of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau formally began an eight-month campaign on Tuesday to kick off the road any riders who flout the rules.
It is aimed at those riders who are using motorcycles without a valid license, who are not wearing safety helmets or breaking the speed limit.
Those who do not use the special lanes provided for motorcycles or carry dangerous loads will also be caught by the campaign.
Deaths of motorcycle riders are very common in Guangzhou - more than 50 per cent of the 1,848 victims who died in traffic accidents last year in the city were motorcycle riders.
At the end of last month, the Traffic Police Office conducted its first statutes on the reporting of scrapped motorcycles.
According to the statutes, all motorcycle riders who own licenses which are more than 15 years old must report their motorcycles to the Traffic Police Office as worthless and then stop riding them.
"As well as traffic safety benefits, all efforts will reduce exhaust fumes and noise pollution caused by their old engines," said Zhang Xiaogang, head of the Supervision Office of the Mobile Pollution Sources under the Municipal Environment Protection Bureau.
In order to control and prevent noise pollution of motorcycles in alleys where many residents live, the bureau passed an official edict yesterday.
Motorcycle riders must stop their engines when they enter an alley from midnight to 7 am and push their motorcycles along.
(China Daily April 4, 2002)
