Chinese police destroy 14,277 'illegal' motorcycles with bulldozers

by julianw | July 30, 2008 at 11:41 am | 1159 views | 12 comments | 5 recommendations

Police in Yungang district, Shenzen have in the last few months confiscated and destroyed 14, 277 "illegal motorcycles," Danwei reports. Since 2003, when motorcycles were banned from much of downtown Shenzen, 580,000 bikes have met the same fate. Most of China's major cities are preparing similar motorcycle crackdowns.

Today's Daily Sunshine reported that 14,277 confiscated "illegal motorcycles" were destroyed by bulldozers in Yungang district, Shenzhen as part of the city's "motorcycle ban". The Shenzhen-based newspaper says that in April this year another 9.532 illegal motorcycles were wrecked in the same way.

Shenzhen began taking steps to reduce the numbers of motorcycles in the city as early as 1995. In 1998, the city stopped allowing residents to register new motorcycles and in 2003, the city passed regulations banning motorcycles from most parts of the downtown area. Today's article says that since 2003 when the ban took effect, a total of over 580,000 motorcycles and electricity-powered bicycle have been confiscated. The Daily Sunshine article was unspecific about what constitutes an "illegal" motorcycles and how police go about confiscating them.

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Barbara McPherson

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:00 on July 30th, 2008

julianw, I like this story. It's good stuff. Maybe the illegal motorcycles brought in the purple death that didn't kill those people in Shenzhen Province(joke). Surely the confiscated motorcycles could have been put to use in the countryside. What a waste.

.d2

at 20:33 on July 30th, 2008

In TaGong in western Sichuan, public transport was non-existant, and there were few cars or trucks. Motorbikes were the most convenient way for the locals to get around and meant they didn't have to walk for miles.

.d2 has contributed a photo to this story.

D-diddy

at 21:17 on July 30th, 2008

Motorcycle police of San Francisco... acting as a decoy to cover up the SF Olympic Torch relay...

D-diddy has contributed a photo to this story.

BlueK9

at 01:29 on July 31st, 2008

When I was there I asked some of the locals where the motorcycles were. In Beijing I was told that the main road through town was banned for motorcycle traffic during business hours and were only allowed on most roads during a limited time period. The reason was simple, motorcycles were loud and a public threat to all the pedestrians and regular transportation traffic.

As a rider myself I was shocked. With the pollution problem and over-crowding I would have thought motorcycles were the answer. Most bikes get 40+ miles to the gallon and are a lot better for the environment than cars. Add to that the ability to make a motorcycle quiet (such an anti-American Motorcycle idea) and you have a win win situation.

digs

at 03:32 on July 31st, 2008

in china, 2008

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jordan

at 07:32 on July 31st, 2008

What a waste.

bdejong11129

at 08:56 on July 31st, 2008

On a past trip to Huizhou while we were traveling to our favorite restaurant for lunch we passed this gentleman on his way to make a delivery. Motorcycles and scooters are a major part of the transportation system in Huizhou. On several occasions I took the local motorcycle taxi to get where I needed to go. It was an adventure I wont soon forget.

bdejong11129 has contributed a photo to this story.

Monte (not verified)

at 15:27 on July 31st, 2008

Good article

Klieg

at 19:48 on August 1st, 2008

This is a primary mode of transportation in the region. If the citizens who use motorbikes moved to cars, there would be no room on the roadways for people to move around and make a living.

Klieg has contributed a photo to this story.

hewins

at 07:06 on August 7th, 2008

This is only one of the many photos of odd and interesting Chinese vehicles. This was taken in Beijing but there are a lot more that I and my girlfriend took in Yangshuo, south of Guilin. Mine and hers.

hewins has contributed a photo to this story.