In the latest in the series of attempts to crack down on traffic disobedience in Shanghai, jaywalkers are set to be tracked down with facial recognition software and fined.
When the watchful eyes of the traffic police aren’t around, cameras will do their jobs for them. After already having made their debut in Shenzhen, it appears they’ve now come to tackle the chaotic streets of Shanghai. According to Shanghai Daily, the smart cameras have been installed at the crossroads of Gonghexin Lu and Yongxing Lu in Jing’an District. They've already caught and identified more than 300 offenders.
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.
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? A Jing'an traffic police official said that 26 of the offenders were found to be living in the district, though only four had actually paid the fine.
“Some people left incorrect or no contact information, so we’re not able to inform them of their offenses,” the official told Shanghai Daily.
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.
China seems to have a love/hate relationship with jaywalking, with some netizens dubbing it 'the Chinese style of crossing the road' at one end of the spectrum, and others defending the traffic warden who bashed a jaywalker's skull with a hammer at the other, declaring she deserved it.
Apparently this is just the beginning, with other cameras coming soon to the crossroads of Huaihai Zhong Lu and Chengdu Nan Lu (Huangpu District), Huaihai Zhong Lu and Xiangyang Lu (Xuhui District), Nanjing Xi Lu and Changde Lu (Jing'an District) and Guoding Lu and Zhengli Lu (Yangpu District). Keep your eyes peeled!
Pedestrians aren't the only targets of the traffic crackdown either — drivers who ignore pedestrians are now getting fined too.
[Images via Shanghai Daily]
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