Grocer fights 105 costly traffic fines

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese vegetable peddler has asked a Beijing court to overturn police fines totaling more than a year's pay after he made the exact same illegal turn 105 times, state media said Sunday.

Du Baoliang was captured making the illegal turn past a no-entry sign on his way from home to his vegetable stall by a hidden camera, part of a network set up to automatically record traffic violations, reports said.

Du, 40, was unaware of the violations until he went to the traffic management office and was told he owed 10,500 yuan ($1,270) -- more than the 9,422 yuan average annual per capita income for urban residents, reports said.

Du paid the fines, but then sued to get his money back and a further 3,000 yuan in compensation for lost vegetable sales while fighting the case, the Xinhua Daily Telegraph said.

He argues that traffic officials hold some responsibility for failing to notify him that he had broken the law early on.

"Of course I do want to win the case even though I was cited 105 times. If I had received any advice at an early date I would not have done it 105 times," the Beijing News quoted Du as saying.

"The traffic management office is also responsible for their mistake," Du said.

Beijing's Xicheng District People's Court agreed to hear the case, the Xinhua Daily Telegraph said.

The hidden camera system, which requires drivers to check their own records at the traffic management office or by a toll call, has become the subject of media scorn and a target of complaints from drivers.

Another repeat offender, surnamed Tian, has been fined more than 20,000 yuan for 97 speeding tickets in less than one year, but has yet to be notified, the Legal Daily said.