Traffic police crack down on tunnel offenses
A Pudong traffic police officers checks the pass of a truck driver who drove from Puxi to Pudong via Dapu Road tunnel on Wednesday morning.
After complaints to the police about an increasing number of trucks, bikers and e-bikers illegally using the city’s under-river tunnels in recent months, police have stepped up a crackdown on offenses.
Pudong police said on Wednesday that they had been cooperating with police on the other side of Huangpu River to make the crackdown more efficient, and the first results were encouraging.
At Dapu Road Tunnel, which links southern Huangpu District to Pudong, only trucks with a maximum load of 5 tons and those possessing passes issued by the authorities are allowed to use it throughout the day, while other trucks can only use it from 8pm to 7am the next day.
Gu Yeqing, an official with the No. 2 mobile team of Pudong police, said the purpose of the restrictions on trucks that use the tunnel was to smooth traffic for motorists as there were a large number of residents around the mouth of the tunnel in Pudong which is adjacent to the Shangnan and Sanlin areas.
Gu said that as the city’s economic activities had been revived in the past month, violations of the traffic rules in the tunnel by trucks had increased to about eight or nine a day. But after the crackdown the number of offenses discovered had been reduced to only one or two a day.
“As the law enforcement of the traffic rules inside the tunnel is within the authorities of our colleagues in Huangpu District, we cooperate with them in the crackdown in which we exchange information about the offenders from two ends of the tunnel so as to stop and punish the offenders on time,” he said.
Gu added that the police had got in contact with the companies whose truck drivers were caught and would hold them accountable.
One of the companies punished so far is cleaning service provider Jiarong. One of its trucks was found in Dapu Road Tunnel during restricted hours on August 2. The driver was fined 200 yuan (US$29) with three points deducted from his license. The security manager of the company was fined 500 yuan by Huangpu police on August 7.
Bikes and e-bikes are banned from using the city’s under-river tunnels, but offenders are not rare and pose a danger to traffic safety inside the tunnels.
Gu said traffic police are addressing the problem with cameras to catch those who ride bikes and e-bikes through the tunnels.
Meanwhile, he said his colleagues will step up patrols at the entrances and exits to the tunnels to punish offenders and remind bikers and e-bikers of the rules.
