This viral video with two million views shows a young boy apparently mistaking road markings on a busy motorway for a zebra crossing and running over the road before stopping in the middle and causing a crash.
The unnamed child from the city of Suzhou in East China’s Anhui Province appeared to be playing near the motorway under the supervision of a relative nearby when he decided to dash up a steep bank alongside what appears to be a bridge in order to look at the cars.
On the road to the left and right of the point where the road runs over the bridge, there are white markings as if it was indeed two zebra crossings, although there is no entrance on to the road and no exit at the other side either. The ‘zebra crossing’ leads to the central reservation which has a barrier and shrubbery.
Video Credit: AsiaWire
The boy only realises this when he is halfway across the road identified as the Beijing-Taipei Expressway – an incomplete motorway currently ending in Fuzhou in eastern Fujian Province. As a result, he stops in the middle of the road, clearly confused, as the cars speed towards him.
Some of those at the front with a view of the youngster then slam on their brakes, eventually causing a collision when a saloon car rear-ends a silver van.
The boy’s guardian, who appears unaware of the accident the boy has caused, calls him back to the roadside and walks away, leaving the owners of the two crashed cars to deal with the collision themselves.
It is unclear what the purposes for the markings on the road were, however, it can be seen that they appear to have been placed at the start of where the bridge begins and then again when it ends.
Because bridges have no way to trap heat, they frequently freeze more quickly than the rest of the road and it could be that the markings – unfortunately similar to a zebra crossing – were put in place to warn drivers that this section might be frozen even if the rest of the motorway is clear.
Authorities have reminded members of the public to pay more attention to their children, especially during the current winter break ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays.
The police did not say whether the child’s family were asked to compensate the owners of the crash cars.
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Story By: Scott Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: AsiaWire
