Incentive scheme rewards considerate drivers

Yueqing county in Wenzhou city, Zhejiang province is offering cash rewards and fuel cards to drivers who give way to pedestrians on crosswalks.

More than 40,000 yuan ($5,980) has been collected to support the campaign, which has already rewarded 29,000 drivers with prizes valued at 6,000 yuan within its first three weeks of operation, according to the Paper.cn.

Local traffic policemen and road transportation officers carry out random check as part of the incentive scheme, to see if drivers are giving way to pedestrians as they should.

The reward for drivers of commercial vehicles who give way to pedestrians is 100 yuan in cash, while all other drivers receive a fuel card valued at 100 yuan each time.

Anyone found to be in violation of the regulation receives a fine of 100 yuan and three penalty points are deducted from their license.

The campaign will last 100 days until the middle of September, when a lucky draw will be held for six prizes, including a fuel card worth 1,000 yuan, in order to further promote good driving.

Giving way to pedestrians has been part of regulations in major cities in Zhejiang province such as Hangzhou and Ningbo since last year. All cities are applying their own methods to encourage drivers to follow the rules.