Even More Cameras are Now Filming Shanghai's Jaywalkers

Smile, you're on camera!

In their continued efforts to crack down on jaywalkers and traffic disobedience, Shanghai police have begun filming pedestrians who ignore red lights at three more intersections around the city.

Shanghai Daily reports that cameras have now been installed at the crossroads of Huaihai Zhong Lu and Chengdu Nan Lu (Huangpu District), Huaihai Zhong Lu and Xiangyang Nan Lu in (Xuhui District) and Nanjing Xi Lu and Changde Lu (Jing'an District). Another one is said to be coming to Guoding Lu and Zhengli Lu (Yangpu District) soon.

This follows the installation of smart cameras at Gonghexin Lu and Yongxing Lu in Jing'an earlier this year. Using imagery from the cameras, police have tracked down jaywalkers using facial recognition software and fined them for disobeying the rules. As of last month, 300 offenders had been caught and identified.

The cameras work with facial recognition software to identify the pedestrians, and then match them to images stored in the police database which spans the population of China along with information regarding foreigners who have entered with a passport. Police will collect three photos and a video to use as evidence against offenders.

READ MORE: Police Using Facial Recognition to Bust Jaywalkers in Shanghai

To act as a deterrent, the captured images of the offenders are then shown next to bus stations during rush hour, but are removed once the offender pays a RMB20 fine. No other identifying information will be displayed.

But is the system actually working? Police say just 27 have been punished since the end of May. Among the 27, just a handful came forward because they saw their photos at the bus stops.

“Some people left incorrect or no contact information, so we’re not able to inform them of their offenses,” one official told Shanghai Daily of the system last month.

The idea of humiliation tactics was tried and tested last year when police from Huangpu district began randomly posting shots of jaywalkers in Xintiandi on social media to expose them.

Pedestrians aren't the only targets of the traffic crackdown either — drivers who ignore pedestrians are now getting fined too.

[Images via Shanghai Daily]