Kneeling to get son off the hook deserves no sympathy

Photos of two traffic policemen in Handan, North China's Hebei province, kneeling beside an old woman who was begging them on her knees not to punish her son for drunken driving, recently went viral over the Chinese Internet. The policemen reportedly chose to go down on their knees to explain the penalty, in order to "clear unnecessary misunderstandings", according to the local police station. Comments:

In fact, it is more noteworthy that the aged mother was kneeling to seek impunity for her son, who had clearly violated the traffic rules. Punishing drunken drivers is needed to protect people and to prevent the rule-breakers from committing the same offence in the future. The old woman's beseeching does not alter the fact that her son had broken the traffic rules, and it may even constitute an attempt to interfere with police officers trying to do their duty.

Beijing News, Aug 30

The two police officers in Handan should not have knelt down, because it does not solve the real problem, which lies in the illegal and dangerous behavior of the drunken driver. The police officers were right in enforcing the law, thus they should not have allowed such entreaties to interfere with them carrying out their duty.

Chutian Metroplis Daily, Aug 30

Of course, drunken driving should be strictly dealt with under the law. What the two Handan policemen were trying to do is in line with the spirit of just enforcement, which is expected to protect the sanctity of the law and all citizens' safety. No one should be allowed to get away with impunity after violating the law. It is thus important that people relinquish their illusions that exceptions can be made if they beg for leniency.

scol.com.cn, Aug 30