Meituan deliverymen take a break on a road in Beijing. Photo: cnsphoto

A deliveryman on an electric bike killed a pedestrian after running a red light on a street in Shanghai recently, triggering concerns about violations of traffic law by deliverymen. 

Details of the accident disclosed on the official WeChat account of the Shanghai traffic police show that the incident happened at the crossroads of Gulang Road and Zhenda Road in Putuo district at around 7 pm on January 1. The deliveryman from online service provider Meituan Dianping was using his mobile phone while running a red light, which caused the accident. 

The pedestrian suffered head injuries and later passed away. 

Shanghai police pointed out that traffic violations such as running red lights, going in the wrong direction and occupying motor lanes are often committed by Shanghai's electric bike cyclists, which can cause serious consequences. 

A Meituan Dianping employee told the Global Times on Wednesday that the company has purchased a 200,000-yuan ($30,943) maximum insurance policy for their deliverymen. Victims or family members of victims in such incidents will be compensated through the insurance. 

Meanwhile, the company or its outsourced companies that have contracts with the deliverymen will also compensate victims according to police determination of the responsibilities. 

The incident triggered concerns over deliverymen's traffic violations on the internet with many Chinese netizens commenting that such behavior should be punished severely. Others commented that the phenomenon is so common due to the low cost of such traffic violations. 

The take-out industry has been booming in recent years, and the number of accidents involving deliverymen has increased, according to media reports. There have been various fatal traffic accidents across China involving deliverymen who ran red lights and illegally changed lanes. 

Statistics show that the public security authorities in Shanghai dealt with more than 43,000 traffic violations by deliverymen during the first nine months in 2020. 

Global Times