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On August 2, Zhuhai, a city in south China’s Guangdong Province, issued road safety regulations banning begging in vehicle lanes.
The new regulations allow the police to impose fines on beggers. Drivers who buy anything from vendors or give money to beggars will also be fined. Fines in the latter cases may amount to 200 yuan ($30.8).
In recent years, begging in vehicle lanes has become more prominent in Zhuhai, said the local police department. Some beggars even knock on car windows with their heads, asking for money from drivers. Begging in vehicle lanes aggravates traffic congestion. People begging in vehicle lanes violate traffic rules and disrupt the normal flows of traffic, and drivers who give money to beggars out of sympathy disturb public order. Besides, the presence of beggars makes it difficult for police to ensure the free flow of vehicles at intersections. Begging may also threaten the lives of beggars as well as drivers.
The new regulation is said to be welcomed by Zhuhai’s residents, drivers and traffic police. But, on the Internet, heated debate is raging on whether the ban is reasonable. Some people worry that the ban will push people who survive on begging into a tight corner.
Helpful and practical
He Liangliang (www.cnr.cn): This is
a common phenomenon in many Chinese cities: Beggars ask for money on busy roads, disrupting traffic flows. Out of sympathy, some drivers give them money. As a result, their sympathy fuels beggars’ enthusiasm for this kind of begging, further disturbing traffic and putting the safety of both at risk.
Zhuhai’s new regulations to fine beggars and drivers who give them money are the first of their kind in China. I think they’re necessary. Selling items, begging for money or giving out advertisements is unsafe for violators and other road users. Drivers who meet these situations often may also feel disgusted.
The new regulations will first help to improve traffic safety in Zhuhai. The police now have a law to turn to when encountering these traffic problems. Isn’t it also necessary to widen this practice to China’s other cities? This will make it easier for traffic police to manage the roads and make it safer for both beggars and drivers and other road users.
Sun Cheng (Guangzhou Daily): From
the perspective of road safety, it’s dangerous for vendors to sell items or beggars to beg for money from roadsides or in vehicle lanes. There are signs at crossings in some cities, warning drivers against giving money to beggars, because there is social assistance available for these people. Banning these practices, backed up by fines, is a positive move.
Since the purpose is road safety and smooth traffic flows, if vendors and beggars are forbidden to sell items and beg for money, drivers must be also covered under the ban. The new regulations are right in imposing fines on drivers if they break the rules. Otherwise, fining only one party will constitute discrimination and will not help with road safety. Zhuhai’s new regulations should be a good example for the rest of the country.
Zhu Shaohua (www.xinhuanet.com):
Beggars have the right to beg, but the safety of the lives of beggars and drivers and social safety are more important. To forbid beggars from asking for money and prevent drivers from showing sympathy means protecting
life and avoiding hidden traffic dangers. This sort of misbehavior not only risks their own lives, but also poses threats to others’ lives. Zhuhai’s new regulations imply this city has developed certain capabilities in urban management.
Bi Xiaozhe (www.xinhuanet.com):
Zhuhai’s legislature has made the best choice. The highlight of the new regulations is, on this controversial issue, legislators have found a point where public rights and interests are maximized. Zhuhai’s legislators choose to give priority to the safety of people’s lives and road safety, instead of beggars’ rights, although some of them may really need to get money this way. On the whole, Zhuhai is going in the right direction on this issue.
Inappropriate
Chen Yizhou (www.xinhuanet.com):
Banning begging is not a panacea, and government’s resorting to fining is a kind of inaction. Most people are very clear about the danger of giving alms to beggars in vehicle lanes, and the fact is fewer and fewer drivers would like to give them money. Sometimes, drivers give money in the hope beggars will go away as soon as possible. In this context, warning people not to beg, sell things or give alms in vehicle lanes is enough. What’s important is the government should improve traffic management not just using the method of levying fines. Isn’t this a striking example of related governmental departments’ inaction?
Zhang Haifei (www.xinhuanet.
com): To resolve the problem of begging on busy roads, the Zhuhai police seem to blame drivers who give money to beggars, not trying to find causes possibly existing in government administration. This is undoubtedly government inaction. Besides, beggars are poor, and they cannot afford a 50-yuan ($7.8) fine. If there are only fines and a lack of effective management, beggars and vendors will continue to appear in vehicle lanes. They know there are always drivers who feel sympathetic to them. If traffic police only impose fines without tak- ing other measures, they will be suspected of creating revenue through fines.
Qiao Zhifeng (www.rednet.cn):
Nowadays, many Chinese cities are plagued by people who beg on busy roads. Beggars not only interrupt traffic flows, but are potential causes of traffic accidents. Traffic department and the public have borne this for a while, but no effective methods have been worked out to deal with the problem. Zhuhai is trying to solve the problem through legislation. The question is, while beggars and drivers are being punished, what are the traffic police doing? Is their job all about fines? Are fines able to eradicate the root of the problem?
A fine of 50 yuan won’t rein in the beggars. As for the beggars, many of them are not really in financial difficulty and have to beg for living, but are professional beggars. Some have even become rich in this way. Thus, a fine of 50 yuan is nothing to a professional beggar. They can earn back the money by stopping more cars on busy roads. As for the drivers who give alms, it’s not they can’t tell who are the real beggars and who are not, but they give money in order to drive the beggars away quickly.
Instead of helping solve drivers’ troubles and creating a good traffic environment, Zhuhai’s traffic police try to deter drivers by fines. Do they mean to transfer their responsibility?
How can this problem be really solved? The first is to provide aid to those who beg from necessity and the second is to punish professional beggars. When these two jobs are done well, smooth traffic flows will naturally return.
Shi Yanping (Shanxi Evening News):
Zhuhai’s new regulations seem unreasonable in terms of targets. Beggars and drivers are fined while the traffic department, supposed to ensure smooth traffic flows and road safety, does nothing but to fine. To prevent vendors and beggars from walking on busy roads and affecting others’ normal lives is the responsibility of urban management department and social aid agencies.
Zhuhai’s new regulations seem to have transferred all the responsibility to drivers. This is ridiculous! Beggars can bring drivers to a standstill if they do not give money. If drivers do give, they will be fined. The new regulations will place drivers in a dilemma.
Fining drivers is unreasonable and is by no means a sound way to drive beggars off roads. The sound way out is to coordinate departments’ work to properly settle who are the real beggars. Only when beggars voluntarily choose to leave the roads, will drivers be free to move.
Zhuhai’s new regulations are a kind of inaction. When the regulations have taken effect, we can predict these scenarios: Beggars and vendors surround vehicles to sell or beg, while drivers don’t know what to do. If they give beggars money so they will leave, drivers will face fines; but if they don’t, the beggars will not let them go. The traffic department should not transfer responsibilities to drivers, but try to find effective ways to ensure road safety and smooth traffic flows.
The new regulations allow the police to impose fines on beggers. Drivers who buy anything from vendors or give money to beggars will also be fined. Fines in the latter cases may amount to 200 yuan ($30.8).
In recent years, begging in vehicle lanes has become more prominent in Zhuhai, said the local police department. Some beggars even knock on car windows with their heads, asking for money from drivers. Begging in vehicle lanes aggravates traffic congestion. People begging in vehicle lanes violate traffic rules and disrupt the normal flows of traffic, and drivers who give money to beggars out of sympathy disturb public order. Besides, the presence of beggars makes it difficult for police to ensure the free flow of vehicles at intersections. Begging may also threaten the lives of beggars as well as drivers.
The new regulation is said to be welcomed by Zhuhai’s residents, drivers and traffic police. But, on the Internet, heated debate is raging on whether the ban is reasonable. Some people worry that the ban will push people who survive on begging into a tight corner.
Helpful and practical
He Liangliang (www.cnr.cn): This is
a common phenomenon in many Chinese cities: Beggars ask for money on busy roads, disrupting traffic flows. Out of sympathy, some drivers give them money. As a result, their sympathy fuels beggars’ enthusiasm for this kind of begging, further disturbing traffic and putting the safety of both at risk.
Zhuhai’s new regulations to fine beggars and drivers who give them money are the first of their kind in China. I think they’re necessary. Selling items, begging for money or giving out advertisements is unsafe for violators and other road users. Drivers who meet these situations often may also feel disgusted.
The new regulations will first help to improve traffic safety in Zhuhai. The police now have a law to turn to when encountering these traffic problems. Isn’t it also necessary to widen this practice to China’s other cities? This will make it easier for traffic police to manage the roads and make it safer for both beggars and drivers and other road users.
Sun Cheng (Guangzhou Daily): From
the perspective of road safety, it’s dangerous for vendors to sell items or beggars to beg for money from roadsides or in vehicle lanes. There are signs at crossings in some cities, warning drivers against giving money to beggars, because there is social assistance available for these people. Banning these practices, backed up by fines, is a positive move.
Since the purpose is road safety and smooth traffic flows, if vendors and beggars are forbidden to sell items and beg for money, drivers must be also covered under the ban. The new regulations are right in imposing fines on drivers if they break the rules. Otherwise, fining only one party will constitute discrimination and will not help with road safety. Zhuhai’s new regulations should be a good example for the rest of the country.
Zhu Shaohua (www.xinhuanet.com):
Beggars have the right to beg, but the safety of the lives of beggars and drivers and social safety are more important. To forbid beggars from asking for money and prevent drivers from showing sympathy means protecting
life and avoiding hidden traffic dangers. This sort of misbehavior not only risks their own lives, but also poses threats to others’ lives. Zhuhai’s new regulations imply this city has developed certain capabilities in urban management.
Bi Xiaozhe (www.xinhuanet.com):
Zhuhai’s legislature has made the best choice. The highlight of the new regulations is, on this controversial issue, legislators have found a point where public rights and interests are maximized. Zhuhai’s legislators choose to give priority to the safety of people’s lives and road safety, instead of beggars’ rights, although some of them may really need to get money this way. On the whole, Zhuhai is going in the right direction on this issue.
Inappropriate
Chen Yizhou (www.xinhuanet.com):
Banning begging is not a panacea, and government’s resorting to fining is a kind of inaction. Most people are very clear about the danger of giving alms to beggars in vehicle lanes, and the fact is fewer and fewer drivers would like to give them money. Sometimes, drivers give money in the hope beggars will go away as soon as possible. In this context, warning people not to beg, sell things or give alms in vehicle lanes is enough. What’s important is the government should improve traffic management not just using the method of levying fines. Isn’t this a striking example of related governmental departments’ inaction?
Zhang Haifei (www.xinhuanet.
com): To resolve the problem of begging on busy roads, the Zhuhai police seem to blame drivers who give money to beggars, not trying to find causes possibly existing in government administration. This is undoubtedly government inaction. Besides, beggars are poor, and they cannot afford a 50-yuan ($7.8) fine. If there are only fines and a lack of effective management, beggars and vendors will continue to appear in vehicle lanes. They know there are always drivers who feel sympathetic to them. If traffic police only impose fines without tak- ing other measures, they will be suspected of creating revenue through fines.
Qiao Zhifeng (www.rednet.cn):
Nowadays, many Chinese cities are plagued by people who beg on busy roads. Beggars not only interrupt traffic flows, but are potential causes of traffic accidents. Traffic department and the public have borne this for a while, but no effective methods have been worked out to deal with the problem. Zhuhai is trying to solve the problem through legislation. The question is, while beggars and drivers are being punished, what are the traffic police doing? Is their job all about fines? Are fines able to eradicate the root of the problem?
A fine of 50 yuan won’t rein in the beggars. As for the beggars, many of them are not really in financial difficulty and have to beg for living, but are professional beggars. Some have even become rich in this way. Thus, a fine of 50 yuan is nothing to a professional beggar. They can earn back the money by stopping more cars on busy roads. As for the drivers who give alms, it’s not they can’t tell who are the real beggars and who are not, but they give money in order to drive the beggars away quickly.
Instead of helping solve drivers’ troubles and creating a good traffic environment, Zhuhai’s traffic police try to deter drivers by fines. Do they mean to transfer their responsibility?
How can this problem be really solved? The first is to provide aid to those who beg from necessity and the second is to punish professional beggars. When these two jobs are done well, smooth traffic flows will naturally return.
Shi Yanping (Shanxi Evening News):
Zhuhai’s new regulations seem unreasonable in terms of targets. Beggars and drivers are fined while the traffic department, supposed to ensure smooth traffic flows and road safety, does nothing but to fine. To prevent vendors and beggars from walking on busy roads and affecting others’ normal lives is the responsibility of urban management department and social aid agencies.
Zhuhai’s new regulations seem to have transferred all the responsibility to drivers. This is ridiculous! Beggars can bring drivers to a standstill if they do not give money. If drivers do give, they will be fined. The new regulations will place drivers in a dilemma.
Fining drivers is unreasonable and is by no means a sound way to drive beggars off roads. The sound way out is to coordinate departments’ work to properly settle who are the real beggars. Only when beggars voluntarily choose to leave the roads, will drivers be free to move.
Zhuhai’s new regulations are a kind of inaction. When the regulations have taken effect, we can predict these scenarios: Beggars and vendors surround vehicles to sell or beg, while drivers don’t know what to do. If they give beggars money so they will leave, drivers will face fines; but if they don’t, the beggars will not let them go. The traffic department should not transfer responsibilities to drivers, but try to find effective ways to ensure road safety and smooth traffic flows.