Chinese people aren't known for their respect for rules of the road. Drunk driving, drag racing, and jaywalking all plague city streets. The latest astounding fashion: prepaying fines.

According to a recent media report, a man in Nanchang, capital city of Jiangxi Province, was caught jaywalking and asked to pay 10 yuan ($1.62) under a new traffic regulation issued earlier this year.

He took out a wallet and handed over 100 yuan, but seeing the policeman didn't have enough change, the lawbreaker said with a languid wave of his hand: "No need to give me change. Just let me run another nine red lights and you will make it up!"

This generosity has stirred public controversy, but in fact, it had been expected by insightful netizens before the 10-yuan fine policy officially took effect.

"The fine policy is good, but what if the rich Chinese only have 100 yuan in their wallet and the policeman doesn't have enough change?" one netizen wrote. "What if they require the policeman to bring a POS machine and let them pay by card?"

Needless to say, the costs of breaking traffic laws in China are just too low. Jaywalking in China costs 10 yuan, while in Germany jaywalker's credit is downgraded thanks to their risky behavior and in Singapore a first-time jaywalker can be fined as much as 1,000 yuan.

In smaller Chinese cities where traffic regulations are more loosely implemented than in metropolises, jaywalkers are not even seen as lawbreakers. It is taken for granted that vehicles should slow down and let the interlopers pass first, because drivers prefer simply slamming their brakes rather than paying fat bills if an incident occurs.

Statistics show that jaywalking is one of the primary causes of fatal traffic accidents. But many people survive every single time they cross on a red light. This is also why an elderly man in Hangzhou of Zhejiang Province was reported to be gobsmacked when he was stopped while jaywalking: "I've been crossing the road this way for decades! Why is it suddenly a mistake?"

Groupthink may arguably be fading in modern China, but it still prevails in any group of Chinese pedestrians who tacitly plan to jaywalk together.

Netizens define the Chinese way of crossing roads as "waiting until there's a group of people and crossing whether the light is green or red." Such a group, in which members rely on each other to terrify running cars and proudly march in the middle of a road, can be spontaneously formed at any point.

In some places in the nation, it is already seen as civilized behavior for people to jaywalk, because they are at least walking on the zebra crossing, and drivers are prepared to slow down each time they approach a traffic light.

This Spring Festival I was driving in my hometown, a city in Jiangsu Province, where the traffic can be as awful as in Beijing at times though the traffic volume is way lower.

There were not so many cars on the road, but the traffic was extremely slow. Pedestrians could suddenly appear in the middle of the road anytime without bothering to look around. I was extremely nervous at the wheel.

And there was no punishment at all. It's debatable whether in countries like Singapore it is hefty fines that help build a civilized society. But in China, while the idea of fines is there, the amounts are barely pocket change.

The author is an opinion editor with the Global Times. chenchenchen@globaltimes.com.cn