Hundreds of drivers banned amid road safety campaign

China's first blacklist - banning 387 people from driving for life - has been released by the Public Security Department in Jiangsu province as part of a national campaign launched in July to crack down on traffic violations.

The list also revokes the licenses of 10,909 drivers who seriously violated traffic regulations and laws in the first seven months of this year.

These drivers will also be banned from driving or applying for a license for at least two years.

Under China's Law on Road Traffic Safety, drivers violating the legislation can be banned from driving for two, five or 10 years, or for life.

Chen Yufeng, commissar of the provincial Public Security Department's Traffic Management Bureau, said the life bans were imposed to warn drivers to respect the law.

"Among the 387 drivers, 77 percent fled from hit-and-run crashes and the rest drove while drunk," Chen said. "People's lives need to be respected."

The names of the drivers banned for 10 years or more have been uploaded on the provincial Public Security Department website. The reasons for the bans have also been given.

Wang Wen, director of the provincial traffic police corps' Safety Department, said drivers who are banned will be affected in many respects.

"The blacklist will be shared with the provincial social credit system," Wang said. "The drivers on the blacklist will also send a message about responsibility."

According to the department, the drivers can appeal, attend court hearings or bring litigation if they disagree with the punishment.

According to the Ministry of Public Security's Traffic Management Bureau, China had 264 million vehicles on its roads by the end of last year and there were more than 300 million drivers.

The bureau said that last year, 21.88 million cars were registered, and more than 20 million people receive driving licenses annually.

Thirty-five cities have more than 1 million cars, with 10 of these having more than 2 million. In cities such as Guangzhou in Guangdong province and Chengdu in Sichuan, there are more than 40 cars for every 100 families, while in Beijing the number has reached 63.

According to Cankaoxiaoxi.com, the World Health Organization was quoted by a German website in May as saying that more than 200,000 people die in traffic accidents every year in China.

Contact the writer at cangwei@chinadaily.com.cn