Chinese City Bans Dirty Cars, Urges Owners to Wash Their Vehicles

The residents of Chengdu, a city in the southwestern part of China, are up in arms as a government ban on dirty cars started last week. And by “dirty”, they don’t mean vehicular emissions, but having dirt, dust, stains or mud on the exterior.

The clean-up campaign is a four-government-department joint effort to supposedly improve the city’s image and maintain a clean appearance for the city, while also reducing road dust and increasing air quality. Those who defy these rules would not be allowed entry into seven of the city’s districts.

The authorities have urged residents to be more diligent in washing their cars and enforced “clean and tidy” commercial vehicles when they are on the road. Owners of trucks, busses and taxis who fail to meet these requirements will face heavier penalties, although what these penalties are remain vague.

It’s not the first time that a Chinese city has tried to prevent dirty vehicles from entering it. Nanjing tried something similar in 2015 and imposed fines of 100 yuan on muddy vehicles, only to suffer a fierce public backlash, as Chengdu is experiencing now.

Chengdu residents lashed out, calling the new regulations unrealistic and the punishment too vague. In the real world, it is inevitable to drive past, say, a construction site or be too busy to wash your car every other day. On the other hand, if the government doesn’t backpedal on the new rules, we can expect a slew of car cleaning businesses to mushroom across the city.

Car bans are also not unusual in other parts of the world, but usually they are intended to minimise the number of cars on the road, reduce air pollution or nudge car owners away from fossil-fueled vehicles: Mexico City alternate odd and even car plate numbers on Saturdays; every first Sunday of the month is car-free day in Paris; and Brussels uses cameras to ensure that diesel vehicles do not enter the city centre’s low-emission zone.

These measures have had various levels of success…and failures. Regardless, this writer, who drives a really, really old petrol-powered car and washes it only twice a year (okay, once), is thankful she doesn’t live in any of these cities. And if Kuala Lumpur ever gets the same idea, she’ll have to move.