The ongoing battle between bad drivers and Shanghai traffic police is going high-tech, with cops installing more cameras to monitor violations at major intersections and drivers using electronic devices to detect the cameras and avoid fines.

Police plan to install 200 more video cameras at intersections around the city this year to help officers track violators more efficiently.

At present, more than 500 cameras monitor city streets, targeting drivers who are speeding, run red lights or dangerously change lanes.

A growing number of local drivers, however, are avoiding the cameras by purchasing a small warning device known as an "electronic dog." The gadget sounds an alarm when it approaches one of the cameras, according to vendors.

"We have been engaged in the business (of selling "electronic dogs") for one-and-a-half years. It wasn't until recently that they sold well after many drivers learned about them by word of mouth," said a shopkeeper surnamed Xu, who owns a small store on Weihai Road.

Xu said that the device is made in Taiwan and costs around 400 yuan (US$48).

"The price is very reasonable," said another shopkeeper. "If a driver is caught by police, the fine will surely exceed that sum."

Fines imposed on drivers who violated traffic rules range from 50 to 200 yuan (US$6.05-24.19).

As the device is relatively new, there are no laws in the city banning their use or sale, but police will ask drivers to unplug the gadget if they are caught using one.

Still, shopkeepers on the streets are very cautious when asked whether they have the "electronic dogs."

Local traffic police question the effectiveness of the device and say they are worried those who use them will drive recklessly since they aren't worried about being caught.

"Drivers who try to rely on the device to avoid having their traffic violations recorded will eventually find they are wrong when they get fined," said Liu Xingwei, a spokesman for the city's traffic police.

"Besides, it's also very dangerous as drivers will pay no attention to traffic rules when they are blindfolded by the device and assume there are no police cameras nearby."
Users of the device disagree.

"It works quite well," said a private-car owner who declined to be named, "It keeps my vigilance high when it beeps. I think it's money well spent."

"I heard about the device, but several people told me it does not work well," said a cabby with the Shanghai Haida Taxi Service Company.

(eastday.com July 23, 2003)