Rule-breaking wedding cars draw complaints

Police in Beijing have vowed to stop wedding cars from violating city ordinances after a series of complaints from motorists during the May Day holiday.

The most common violations, according to an official notice, include covering license plates with message boards, illegally parking on trunk roads and emergency areas, randomly cutting in lanes and running red lights.

These actions increase the risk of accidents, greatly affect other vehicles and hamper traffic flow, according to the notice by the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, which added that some drivers leave the message board covers on their plates long after the wedding ceremony.

The move follows a series of complaints, the authority said. On May 1, the last day of the three-day May Day holiday, police received 10 complaints about traffic violations by wedding cars.

According to the road traffic safety law, anyone who damages or covers up their car license plate faces a fine of 200 yuan ($32) and six penalty points.

In China, drivers are granted 12 points a year on their license. The license will be suspended if all 12 points are deducted within a year, and the driver must go through a seven-day course on traffic laws and regulations before retaking the driving license test.

Different violations of traffic rules will lead to different deductions of points on the driver's license.

Traffic authorities suggest drivers put the message boards beneath the windshield instead of covering the car plates.

Liu Feng, general manager with Beijing Didi Auto Leasing, said his firm leases cars to both wedding service companies and individuals, and he admits that some of his clients use message boards to cover up plates.

"We inform clients not to make changes on car plates, but we find that some do not listen to us," he said. "We do not interfere with clients after leasing the cars, and it's their business if they are penalized or not."

Yu Xiaokun, a manager with Beijing Yuge Wedding Services, which provides wedding car decoration and wedding ceremony design services, said they do not allow clients to cover up car plates.

"Some clients want to put the greeting boards on the place where car plates are fixed because they think it's more conspicuous by doing so than putting them anywhere else. But we would persuade them not to cover the car plates or it would break the traffic rules," he said.

Yu said they could put the boards on other places, such as the car body.