Special Report: NPC, CPPCC Annual Sessions 2007

    BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Expressways are meant to offer speedy transport, but drivers may fall into the speeding traps set by some traffic police who chase after fines, a Chinese lawmaker said.

    "Sometimes speed limit signs are out of sight to lure speedy drivers into a trap of fine," said Wang Zhenxin, deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's legislature.

    To make fines from drivers, traffic police set up a speed limit of 80 to 100 km per hour on a three-lane expressway, often abruptly, said Wang.

    What's more, traffic police may drive a normal car without police signs in expressway patrol, or a speed monitoring car hides in an obscure place to net speedy drivers, according to Wang.

    In this sense, the lawmaker suggested that appropriate speed limit signs should be installed to make the expressway to function more effectively.

    China had 3.48 million km of highways and 45,400 km of expressways in operation by the end of 2006, according to the Ministry of Communications.