Green Daily

While the US is going through somewhat of a two-wheeled renaissance to beat traffic gridlock, greenhouse gases, and high prices at the pump, Chinese officials are busy confiscating two-wheeled motor vehicles and running them over with bulldozers. According to the Daily Sunshine, the Shenzhen Province has place a prohibition on all motorbikes, and the government has systematically destroyed 14,277 of them already. What's their deal? Do they hate the environment?

Supposedly, the heavy-handed ban was introduced to put the brakes on a huge wave of robberies in which motorcycles were used. According to reports, everybody from purse-snatchers to bank robbers were using motorcycles as getaway vehicles -- and leaving Shenzhen cops in the dust, even in broad daylight. Since the ban, police say that robberies are down 58.32%. Not that the crime wave justifies the confiscation and destruction of every bike the police can round up. That, in my humble opinion, is something every bit as criminal. You don't bulldoze a person's bike -- that's messed up.

Not to mention, in a place where people ride scooters because they can't afford cars, it's kind of a human rights violation. And China was really starting to look good there for a minute.

[via AutoBlogGreen]