GUANGZHOU: Eight-year-old Zhang Xinxin is afraid of running red traffic lights.

"If I were caught by traffic police for running a red light, my parents would have to come to the school to study traffic laws," said Zhang, a student from the Guangzhou Tianxiu Primary School.

She was given a traffic security card by the school last Wednesday, marking the implementation of the traffic security co-ordinative measures recently launched by local traffic police and educational departments.

The card will be used to track students' violation of traffic laws.

"It would be really embarrassing for us pupils to make our parents go to school. Moreover, our school performance would be affected if we violated traffic rules," Zhang said.

Like Zhang, all primary and middle school students in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, have been given a traffic security card by schools.

"The move aims to raise more awareness among students and parents to better abide by traffic rules," said Hua Tongxu, director of Guangzhou Education Bureau.

At present, Guangzhou has more than 1,800 primary and middle schools with nearly 1.8 million students.

In recent years, a great number of students have fallen victim to traffic accidents, according to Hua.

"As an educational authority, we should not only attach importance to students' academic performance, but their security outside schools," Hua said.

A total of 42 primary and middle school students were killed by traffic accidents in Guangzhou last year, sources with the local traffic police department said.

Zhang Jinting, head of the Xianliedonglu Primary School, said: "Besides students, many parents also show little awareness of abiding by traffic rules. As a result, it is a must to summon their parents to schools for education on traffic rules if their children violate rules."

According to a traffic policeman surnamed Chen, some parents teach their children to run red lights during rush hour.

"Parents' violation will set a bad example for their children," Chen said.

The implementation of the traffic security co-ordinative measures has been acclaimed by the public.

By yesterday afternoon, 66 per cent of the 6,022 votes on China's largest website portal Sina.com showed support for the move.

However, some students said that the measures will add more burdens on them.

"Besides academic performance, we now have to be more mindful of our behaviour outside school since the violation of traffic rules will be written into our school performance record," said Lu Mingyun, an 11-year-old student at the Xianliedonglu Primary School.

Editor: Yan