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.One rationale behind the ban is the rampant robberies in the city; robbers riding motorbikes routinely snatched handbags or jewelry from pedestrians and sped away often leaving arriving police in their dust. Some of these crimes occurred to happen in broad day light. The article cited a statistics saying that the motorbike robberies this year has declined by 58.32% compared with last year and three motorcycle robbery gangs have been busted by the police.
Most of China’s major cities have similar plans to cut down on motorcycles uses.
*snif* :`( I think I see a poor little Honda Elite in that pile. “I’ll SAVE you little Honda Elite!”
Thanks to Fred for scooping us on this sad story.
9. September 2008 at 3:50 pm
They could have sold them on ebay and made more money for The People!
9. September 2008 at 9:35 pm
Don’t worry Tim, we’ll see these Scooters again in bits and pieces on our “brand new Chinese scooters for $999.00!”
9. September 2008 at 10:01 pm
China is branding itself as a first world superpower. Streets filled with bicycles, motorcycles and scooters are seen as too “third world” and bad for their image. Streets filled with smog producing cars are signs of a prosperous first world nation.
That should be worth an ice cap or two.
idiots
13. September 2008 at 3:02 am
Tim! Let’s hope Europe does just that. Sells all their old, stinky, metal bodies to us on ebay.
Sean! Sad but true.
Blue Mark! You speak the truth my friend. Others are rapidly working to live like us… and we are sloooowly working to become like Helsinki.
16. September 2008 at 1:00 pm
When motorcycles are outlawed, only outlaws will have motorcycles.