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Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province in China, has devised a modern system to deter pedestrians from crossing the roads when the red light is on. This high-tech installation, the first of its kind in North China, includes two digital cameras to capture jaywalkers' faces and a screen to display the images to the public.
The technology is similar to speed cameras on highways where over-speeding vehicles will trigger the camera and snap their picture. But the unique feature of the technology is that it will issue an audio warning upon detecting pedestrians who intend to cross and ignore the red traffic light.
Those who completely ignore the warning will have their images captured, and their faces will then be shown to the public in a 30cm-by-20cm display screen situated at the road crossing.
One unsuspecting male student became the early subject of the high-tech camera system. Upon hearing the voice prompt, he did not continue to cross the road and stepped back onto the pavement.
This kind of high-tech pedestrian imaging system is now operating at two main crossroads in the Hebei province capital of Shijiazhuang. After a week of the system's run, reactions from the citizens were varying.
One resident named Feng, 30, said that jaywalkers need to think about their action. However, he appealed that "traffic authorities should adjust the time that lights are red for vehicles and pedestrians."
Shijiazhuang Saimei Intelligent Electronic Corporation, the maker of the technology, said that the installed camera system is still an experiment.
This high-tech system is just one of the remedies implemented to improve the traffic and pedestrian situation in China. In Beijing, pedestrians who are caught jaywalking are fined 10 yuan. In Chengdu, the fine for jaywalking is 50 yuan.
