Drivers line up to pay the fines for traffic violations at a traffic management bureau in Haikou, Hainan Province on February 28, 2013. Photo: CFP

Tang Junwei is never surprised when his girlfriend calls about another car accident.

The young driver ended up with another two scratches on her car when she was on her way to repair some earlier damage, Tang told the Global Times. "She's had over 20 points off her license," Tang said.

Under China's points system, every driver is granted 12 points every year and violations of traffic regulations are followed by point deductions. If all the points are lost within a year, the driver has to re-take the traffic rule exam to regain the license.

But each vehicle can be linked to up to three different licenses, a system intended to be used for families or borrowing cars but which has been abused for years. It is now a common practice for people to volunteer to become "scapegoat drivers" for their relatives and friends, taking the points hit for an offense they didn't commit.

"I'm thinking about getting a license myself, so that I could be the scapegoat driver for my girlfriend," Tang said. "Or I could sell my points to others. I hear the price is good."

But as the practice moves from a personal favor into a full-blown business, dangerous drivers are being allowed back on the roads.

Gray business

In spite of all the warning signs to discourage scapegoat drivers, Ma Ye (pseudonym) handed his ID card and driver's license to the police officer and accepted the punishment for a total stranger's illegal parking. He made 3,600 yuan ($577) for six points off his license in Henan Province in March.

"The price varies from region to region. Say, you won't get paid this much in Beijing," Ma, currently a graduate student in Beijing, told the Global Times.

For nine points, the average price is tagged at 600 or 700 yuan total, several agents told the Global Times when our reporter posed as a prospective scapegoat. But when the reporter posed instead as a buyer who needed someone to take the blame, the price jumped to 1,300 yuan - a hefty 100 percent profit for the agents.

An agent surnamed Wang offered 100 yuan more if the driver could pay the fine through a credit card instead of at the traffic management bureau. "You don't have to worry about any kind of inspection at the bank. If you go to the bureau, you must insist that it was you driving the car," Wang said.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China began to offer the service in 2007 and drivers simply need to type in the license plate number and engine number of the car violating traffic regulations. The machine collects the fine and points are deducted from the license registered as the holder of the credit card.

It used to be that one license could be used to pay the fees for any number of cars. But now each license can only be used to pay the fines on three cars a year at most, under new regulations issued last year.

This hasn't stopped the agents from making money. However, scapegoat drivers are against the Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security, which stipulates that people lying under such circumstances can be detained for up to 10 days with penalties up to 500 yuan.

No questions asked

"Nobody bothers to ask if you were the driver. You just pay the fine and get the points deducted. The monitoring camera only keeps an image of your license plate, not the driver," Ma said.

But a traffic police officer surnamed Li from Liaoning Province said that some newly-set up cameras are higher resolution and could capture the image of drivers more easily. Li stated that more technological support is needed to help identify drivers.

Zhang Zhuting, a law professor at the Transport Management Institute under the Ministry of Transport, said that some traffic officers should also abandon their perfunctory manner in dealing with illegal drivers. "There must be a strict identity check," Zhang added.

Zhang told the Global Times that the existence of scapegoat drivers is more of a result of the absence of a personal credit system.

"People think they are helping others. If we had a personal credit system, covering everything from cheating in exams to financial matters, it would be a different matter. This requires comprehensive efforts from different organs apart from traffic management departments. Insurance companies and banks must be involved to connect drivers' traffic violations to their economic credit," Zhang said.

The license record system also rewards good drivers by letting them use the same license for longer. However, the potential rewards have been ignored, which also explains the lack of significance attached to the points system, said Zhang.

Dangers on the road

Many drivers reached by the Global Times complained that 12 points are not enough due to the "strictest traffic regulations" that impose punishments for what they see as mild offenses like from running a red light or talking on the cellphone while driving.

The point-selling market is also developing due to a rapidly increasing number of new drivers who are not familiar with the rules on the road. China had 280 million drivers in 2013, including 18.44 million green hands, reported the Beijing Times.

"With so many passengers running at a red light, all you can do as a driver is to wait, but we are all in a rush, hence we end up speeding through the red light ourselves. You then get three or six points deducted every time. Scapegoat drivers are really necessary," said a driver surnamed Bai.

But this may speak more to Chinese drivers' lack of skills than to the supposed strictness of the system. In most Western countries, drivers receive only 12 points over three years. And hitting the point limit doesn't require merely retaking the test, but, depending on the verdict of the authorities, often means being banned from the road for five years, 10 years, or even life.

"Most drivers here in China are always in a rush and careless on the road. Scapegoat drivers may help them out for minor violations, but even the slightest mistake on the road can kill you," Li said.