That is the message that I discern from the Shanghai police department's recent announcement that it will be posting photos and videos of jaywalkers online in an effort to "shame" them into compliance with traffic laws. Meanwhile, there continue to be no "yield to pedestrian" rules enforced anywhere in China, even at green light pedestrian walkways.
City police in Shanghai apparently take jaywalking quite seriously. Shanghai Daily reports that police recorded close to 8 million jaywalking violations in the first eight months of 2008. Now compare that to the misdeed that isn't recorded: The continuing failure of Chinese drivers, especially right-turning drivers, to yield to pedestrians using crosswalks or green walk signs. This is true not only of Shanghai, but also any Chinese city that I have visited.
Shouldn't it occur to the police that a few of these jaywalkers just might be crossing against the light because they had no ability to cross when the light was green? And what is the point of having a green pedestrian light if all cars ignore it? Why is that I have never seen or heard of any enforcement in this regard?
I'm not sure what the applicable law is on crosswalks (if any), but I can tell you this with dead certainty: I have never been at a traffic intersection in China where cars voluntarily yielded to pedestrians. When pedestrians are already in the roadway, they do sometimes swerve so as not to hit them, but I wouldn't call this yielding. Oncoming traffic should learn that when a pedestrian is in the road, crossing with the walk sign, hitting the horn isn't the right response, nor is stepping on the gas pedal. The right response would be to put a foot down hard on the brakes. People should be able to cross the road on a green light without fearing for their lives.
(For a more humorous look at the subject, take a look at this ironic manifesto posted by one wise-ass/expat.)
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