Traffic police took bribes to ignore truckers’ transgressions

More than 100 officials in Heilongjiang province have been put under investigation — and some punished — for their involvement in covering up traffic violations by trucks, the Harbin Commission for Discipline Inspection announced on Monday.

Many residents in Harbin, the provincial capital, have seen what they call “crazy trucks” — overloaded trucks speeding, driving in the wrong direction or running red lights — that pose a danger to the safety of vehicles and pedestrians.

In the past half year, a team including prosecutors and public security officers has investigated who was protecting such trucks.

“After investigating 2,000 people and 30,670 traffic police department files, the team seized 70 suspects and broke up six gangs,” said the head of the team. “A series of discipline violations emerged, including abuse of power, taking bribes and regulatory inaction.”

Punishment for 122 officials in the traffic police department included warnings, removal from office posts and expulsion from the Communist Party of China.

According to the investigation, the suspects colluded with officials in the traffic police department to monopolize truck transportation in the city.

Only those who paid protection fees of up to 15,000 yuan ($2,300) to the gangs could engage in the transportation business, and their violations would not be punished.

“We would paint a name of a company or special mark on the truck after payment and the traffic police would recognize it and not intercept it on the road,” said a suspect.

Furthermore, some traffic police secretly notified the gangs before a surprise inspection.

“The rock-bottom price for truck transportation is about 35 yuan per cubic meter, but the price in the market has dropped to 20 yuan,” said a truck owner who did not want to be named. “Even though we all know overloaded trucks are a serious problem, we also know that if we don’t overload our trucks we will find it hard to make a profit.”

“I have heard and seen many serious accidents caused by trucks, so I always keep quite far from them,” said Li Li, a taxi driver in the city. “Recently I found that the situation has improved.”