Authorities in China erect cardboard police cars on motorways to deter speeding

Chinese traffic police in Jiangsu Province have come up with a cut price way to deter drivers from speeding.

The local traffic bureau has set up boards showing the rear end of police cars along the side of the road.

The idea is that approaching vehicles spot the boards and, thinking it is a real police vehicle, slow down.

Driver Liu Yuan, who took these images, told Rex Features: "I spotted a police vehicle parked at the roadside from far way. Worried that they may monitor my speed I unconsciously stepped on the brake pedal.

"But when I passed it I was stunned in seeing from the rear mirror that it's just a thin-plate board resembling a police vehicle."

He added: "The board even has a solar panel on top, which means the light can flash at night making it look even more real."

But authorities in the UK are sceptical. Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, says they're ineffectual.

He told the Daily Mail: "Forces in the UK have tried this on motorway bridges. But basically it's a waste of time. Once one person has gone past it, everyone realises it's a joke, so any effect tails off very quickly."

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