Du Baoliang has withdrawn his law suit against the Beijing traffic police. 

A driver who was cited for 105 traffic violations at the same spot with hefty fines but was never notified has withdrawn his law suit against the Beijing traffic police.

The case has attracted wide attention across China.

His lawyer told reporters that Du Baoliang, a migrant worker from Anhui province, refused to reveal the exact reason for withdrawing the suit. But the lawyer said Du was facing strong pressure from his family members and the traffic administration.

Du also hinted that the traffic administration might return the money he submitted as fines.

Du was quoted as saying he wants to be out of the public eye and return to his normal life selling vegetables. He said he has achieved some of his purposes. Traffic police in Beijing will henceforth be sending written notices to traffic violators.

Du Baoliang has been selling vegetables in downtown Beijing since 1993. He was found to have passed the same non-entry sign 105 times since July last year.

Du did not know that every morning on his way to bring vegetables to the market his truck was being recorded by the "electronic eyes" of more than 5,000 cameras scattered around the city.

His fines accumulated to 10,500 yuan (US$1,270), quite a fortune for a migrant worker.

Du only came know this in May when he visited a traffic police office.

It did not take long before Du became a household name. The media started to refer to the "Du Baoliang phenomenon." Curiously, the public have all supported him. Nobody has criticized Du's deeds or eulogized the triumph of law, they think Du was wronged.

This is mainly because there are only three ways for a driver to know if he has committed a traffic violation and none of the three is convenient for Du Baoliang, a computer illiterate who does not read newspapers. The three ways are: visiting a traffic police office, visiting the official website of traffic police or calling a special phone number that costs 3 yuan (36 US cents) per minute.

Many lawyers say his repeated mistake ceased to be an offence because he was not notified for nearly a year. Experts say that traffic law enforcement departments should inform violators in time so that they can avoid repeatedly breaking the same traffic regulation.

Strong public support encouraged Du to bring the law enforcers to court. On June 13, he filed a lawsuit with the Xicheng District People's Court in Beijing. He told local media that he just wanted to get his money back.

It has since become a hot social topic as regard to whether the Du Baoliang or local traffic administration should be responsible for the repetition of the traffic violations.

The sudden withdrawal of the suit by Du Baoliang has also attracted a great deal of media attention. Some newspapers have raised questions on whether it is right for such a high profile case to come to an inconclusive end.

(CRI July 29, 2005)