People in Southern China were overjoyed on the weekend (and posted incessantly on WeChat’s Moments) about the snowfall, with many seeing snow for the first time in their lives.
So when Chongqing received its first snowfall in 20 years, one way residents celebrated was by by building miniature snowmen on car roofs. But the Chongqing police were not amused. At all.
On January 23, Chongqing traffic police pulled over 136 cars for being decorated with snowmen. The police maintain that the snowmen constituted a safety hazard, warning that snow doesn’t stick well to metal. The snowmen can fall off at any time, posing a risk to cars nearby.
To drive their point home, Chongqing traffic police say having a snowman on top of a car is an illegal act punishable by a fine of RMB 50 and a deduction of one point on their driving record. However, reports suggest that most drivers were let off with a warning as well as receiving “criticism” from police to not engage in such behavior again.
Some people didn’t see what the problem was. As one driver told the Chongqing Evening Post, “Everybody is doing it. And, my kid likes it – a lot.”
As much risk as the snowmen pose to traffic safety, it isn’t as though snow poses much of a threat to Chongqing, which has rarely seen a snowfall. But there’s not much chance Chongqing police will relax traffic regulations to coincide with seasonal cheer, thereby preventing the tradition of rooftop snowmen from ever snowballing.
