Risking lives for a few likes

A section of the national road number 315, passing through Qinghai province, is famous for its beautiful landscape. Green meadows and wild flowers along the long drive are enough inspiration for many passengers to alight from their cars, take in the breathtaking scenery, click pictures and post them online to get the customary "likes". But with such beautiful distractions also come tragedies.

Since 2018, eight accidents have occurred on the road, which some call the "killer stretch". And the culprit was always the same: people taking photographs in the middle of the road, almost always to share them on social networking sites.

Posting photographs to get more followers on social networking sites is a good way of making money. However, people should not be risking their lives. After all, of what use are a large number of followers to those who lose their lives while carelessly clicking photographs or being photographed.

Even if the adventurous ones do not care for their own lives, they should spare a thought for the lives of others, like that of other drivers, that they endanger. Road number 315 links the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region with other regions, through Qinghai, thus making it a busy stretch teeming with heavy vehicles.

However, the more people post their photographs and videos online, the more it encourages others to follow suit, thus increasing the risks.

Such is the craze that it has led to the emergence of local guides, who help the visitors evade both trucks and the police in their quest for that perfect shot.

There are similar stretches elsewhere too. There have been cases of trains coming to a halt on railroads to avoid running over people posing for photographs or just clicking away. This frenzy for likes over lives should come to an end.