Sick of getting temporarily blinded by drivers using their high-beam headlights at night, more and more Chinese are equipping the rear windows of their cars with scary reflective decals featuring ghosts, vampires or monsters.
Dozens of shops on large e-commerce sites like Taobao are selling scary rear-window decals with graphics ranging from ghostly figures and women with bloody mouths to vampires and yellow-eyed werewolves, and judging by the number of photos currently doing the rounds on Chinese social media, people are actually using them to deter drivers from keeping their high beam headlights on when driving behind them. The bizarre stickers are apparently barely visible in the dark or normal lighting conditions, but light up when a bright light is shone on them.
Most of the shop selling these decals are actually advertising them as a cheap way to scare and discourage other drivers from using their high-beam unnecessarily, and, at this point, people will try anything. The decals sell for $3 – $18 on Taobao, depending on their size, and are fairly easy to apply on the window.
Only harsher laws can deter reckless drivers: DIG Aryal
According to the South China Morning Post, traffic policeman in Jinan, eastern Shandong province, have noticed an increasing number of cars sporting pictures of ghosts with pale skin and other creepy characters on their rear window, and warned that they could pose a threat to road safety. Drivers caught with such decorations on their cars through the city risk a fine of 100 yuan ($15). In Beijing, it is not illegal to decorate car windows with decals, but police say people may have to bear responsibility for any accidents caused by scaring other drivers.
However, no cases of accidents caused by these scary decals have so far been reported. The same cannot be said about the irresponsible use of high-beam headlights. Chinese media has so far covered dozens of fatal car crashes involving drivers dazzled by bright, full beam headlights.
Still, people who don’t want to risk getting in trouble with the law over the use of scary, light-reflective decals, can use something more direct, like the one below.
This is not the first time we’ve reported on China’s serious high-beam problem. Just a few weeks ago, we reported on a bizarre police tactic of deterring drivers from turning their full beam headlights illegally – making them stare into their own high-beam headlights for a full minute.
