Sightseers hold-up traffic on new bridge

by infomatique | May 7, 2008 at 01:42 pm

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I know that China is a very large country and that it is difficult for officials to ignore rules and regulations but one would think that they could have allowed a week or two for people to experience the wonderful structure that they paid for (I assume that people in China do pay tax these days).

Hundreds of sightseeing drivers have been fined for driving too slowly along China's new cross-sea bridge, designed to slash travel time between two major ports.

Since its opening on 1 May, police have fined more than 300 drivers, most for driving too slowly or illegally parking on the emergency lanes while enjoying the ocean view and taking photos, local media have reported.

'I just wanted to drive a bit slowly and enjoy the sea breeze. Is that wrong?' Zhejiang's official news portal quoted an unnamed driver as complaining.

Long lines of cars carrying whole families eager to see the bridge and sea vista have caused serious traffic problems and led to a series of accidents, the news portal said.

The 36km structure spans Hangzhou Bay in the booming province of Zhejiang, and links its port city of Ningbo with the financial hub, Shanghai.

The bridge is designed to cut the journey time between the ports from four hours to just two-and-a-half.