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Two wheeled trouble
By Ye Jun (Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2005-11-15 08:52
A new saying about Beijing's traffic goes: "Cars are jammed, bicycles are
slow, scooters are best." Beijing's expat motorcycle and scooter riders enjoy
weaving in and out of jams, but many of them are unaware that they are driving
illegally.
Traffic
congestion on Beijing's third ring road is shown in this
October 22, 2003 file photo.
[newsphoto] | | Xavier, a
Frenchman who works in an insurance-related company, loves his motorcycle. He
bought it a year and half ago at Wudaokou for a mere 2,200 kuai (US$272). Now he
has ridden 10,000 kilometres on it. Although he has spent more than 1,000 yuan
(US$123) on reparations, plus 15 yuan (US$2) worth of oil for every 80
kilometres, he thinks it is a good deal.
"If I take a taxi, it costs me 10 yuan (US$1.23) to go four kilometres. So my
motorbike has saved me 25,000 yuan (US$3,125) during this past a year and a
half," he calculated. "Back in France, the same motorbike would cost me 10 times
more."
He has been to the Hutong, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven,
the bar streets and outside Beijing on his bike.
"It is not expensive, and I'm never late anymore," he claimed. "It is the
cheapest and best way to discover Beijing."
With all of its merits Xavier knows he has been driving the motorcycle
illegally.
His 125 cc motorcycle, which can hit up to 100 kilometres per hour, has a
Hebei plate that cost him 300 yuan (US$37). But in Beijing only a Jing-A (-A)
plate can go beyond the Fourth Ring Road.
Also, his motorcycle is not supposed to go on the second, third, fourth and
fifth ring roads.
Even worse, the city stopped issuing any new plates for new motorcycles in
January 1998, But plates for scrapped Jing-As can be bought for up to as much as
15,000 yuan (US$185).
The punishment for driving without a licence can be a 800 yuan (US$99) fine
and 13 days' custody.
Safety is also a problem. One Korean student at the Beijing Language and
Culture University died in a traffic accident in May after driving a motorcycle
while drunk.
Pollution is another issue. Beijing has already asked all vehicles on the
road to meet Europe III emission standards, including motorcycles. Many
motorcycles and scooters do not meet these standards.
Two other types of bikes available in shops are petrol powered scooters and
electric scooters, called zhu li che ( in Chinese.
At scooter shops near Xiaoyunqiao on the North Fourth Ring Road, shop
assistants said they sell four to five scooters a day. But according to a
policeman on the North Fourth Ring Road, all petrol scooters are banned. If one
has a D-type licence for motorcycle driving, it might help. But it does not mean
the scooter will not be impounded by traffic police.
As for electric scooters, Beijing Traffic Administration issued a decree in
2002, stating that all electric scooters will be forbidden by the end of 2005.
The main reasons electric scooters are to be banned are safety and battery
pollution. They can drive up to 50 kilometres per hour, which is more than
double the speed of bicycles. People can drive these with no training, and
judging by the way some people ride bicycles in Beijing it is surely a recipe
for disaster.
According to estimates by the Chinese Association of Bicycles, there are 10
million electric bicycles in China, 500,000 of which are in Beijing. The end of
the year will reveal the answer to the question of electric scooters'
legitimacy.
For many expats, it is the fact that they are often ignored by the police
that makes them neglect proper licensing and insurance.
Briton, David Jones, bought a second hand scooter from a friend and has been
driving it for a month.
"I drive past the police all the time and they have never stopped me," he
said. "In Britain if a policeman noticed anybody without a licence plate he
would certainly pull him over. Here I seem to get away with it."
Gerald Gardebled, a motorcycle enthusiast from France, was once fined 200
yuan (US$25) for driving his motorcycle in a bicycle lane. Once he was stopped
by police who suspected that his motorcycle was stolen. The police then radioed
headquarters to confirm his identity and the legitimacy of his black Jing-A
plate for foreigners. Although Gardebled forgot to carry his licence, they let
him go when they learned that the vehicle was legally his.
To get a D-type licence people need to visit the Foreign Affairs' Office of
the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau. They will then be asked to fill in a form
and take their passport and resident permit and go through a physical
examination and then pass a traffic rule test and a driving test.
Expats can either go by themselves or contact Beijing Foreign Enterprise
Service Group (FESCO) to have people help them complete the process at a cost of
800 yuan (US$99).
"If you ask them, most people do not want to break the law," said David
Jones. "They would also be hoping that conforming to the law won't cost them too
much money, time and effort. They just want to get any problems sorted out
quickly and easily."
Foreign Affairs Office, Beijing Traffic Management Bureau ()
Location: 90 Laiguangying Xilu, Chaoyang District, next to the Fifth Ring
Road (90, )
Tel: 8762-5150
FESCO Chenguang Company ()
Location: Room 315 to 324, FESCO, 14 Chaoyangmen Nandajie14
Tel: 8561-8016
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