Police tackle illegal e-bikers on elevated roads
An offender caught by police on an elevated road in suburban Jiading District earlier this year.
All elevated roads in Shanghai ban electric bicycles, but in recent years an increasing number of e-bikers, when caught by police on such roads, claimed they had been misguided by navigation apps.
In most cases, they were led onto the elevated roads after inadvertently opting for the driving mode on the apps. Now, police in Jiading District have come up with a new idea to tackle the problem.
The suburban district police said on Tuesday that they have worked with several leading navigation app operators. The apps now remind and warn e-bikers who are about to enter certain ramps leading to the elevated roads that they would be breaking the law.
"Anyone entering the on-ramps under the driving mode will receive a reminder, be they bikers or motorists," police said.
The reminder covers nine less steep on-ramps which are considered more likely to mislead bikers.
Meanwhile, police have stepped up patrolling of elevated roads for such offenses.
"When patrol officers spot an offender, they accompany the biker till he or she has driven off the road at the nearest off-ramp for the safety of both the biker and other motorists," police said.
Offenders are fined 50 yuan (US$7.8).
There have been more than 200 offenders in Jiading alone so far this year.
