Death penalty in Shanghai?

Wow, you guys are tough in Shanghai!

I've seen this article referenced on a few USA-bike forums (and heavily discussed), but I have not heard anything inside China.

The short story is that a couple of guys in Shanghai were street racing on large sport bikes (illegally plated, surprise, surprise), police caught them, and now they could receive the death penalty.

Hmmmmm ... I wonder how true this report is???

Despite me sometimes wishing the death penalty could be used for traffic offenses, I am pretty sure bad driving is not a capital crime.

Or, maybe the authorities are throwing it out there to get some attention on a street racing problem?

Here is the original Visor Down article.

if they didnt kill anyone or steal the govts money

hard to see how they can get the death penalty

You could really hope this is not true. If not China has a loooong way to go............

But, it could also be a thing that some governments prefer their own people to belive about other countries...............

As posted by 998S in another thread earlier this month.......

CHINA, now riding a bike becomes more deadly, and not even the best protection gear will help you :)
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Motorcycle street racers caught on tape could face death penalty

2012-3-6 | SHANGHAI DAILY NEWSPAPER

TWO motorcycle drag racers were detained and charged with dangerous driving under new guidelines that for the first time can lead to the death penalty, city police said yesterday.

Previously, racers face a penalty of less than 15 days if they caused no consequences.

The street bike racing happened the night of February 3. The two men, identified only as Jin and Zhang, met about 8pm in a garage on Leyuan Road, Pudong New Area, and drove out a Yamaha and a Honda, both powerful motorcycles with 1,000 cubic-centimeter engines, police said.

The two rode on Yanggao Road and made a U-turn near Jufeng Road, police found in the surveillance cameras. The two were later speeding on the road and kept breaking red lights all the way from Pudong to Puxi via the Nanpu Bridge.

Patrolling officers tried to stop the two at Lujiabang Road and Henan Road S., but they did not slow down and escaped on Henan Road S., returning back to Pudong via the Fuxing Road E. Tunnel, police said.

Jin and Zhang were later identified by police from surveillance camera footage and were detained, with their motorcycles confiscated. Jin's Yamaha was unlicensed while Zhang was using another person's license plates on his Honda, police found.

Jin and Zhang confessed their crime and the case was handed over to the prosecutors last Wednesday.

City police warned locals not to try racing in the streets, saying they will intensify crackdowns on dangerous driving.

"Street racing seriously disturbs the traffic," police said in the statement.

The police also warned locals not to retrofit their motorcycles, as such vehicles may not easily brake and can harm not only others on the road but the riders themselves.

this si said about pretty much any crime as the most severe penalty its like the life imprisonment is the strictest in the uk it depends on how serious it is sadly most motorists who cause a motorbike riders death get sent home with just a slap on the wrist