Gridlock on China roads after frustrated driver tampers with ‘slow’ traffic lights

A motorist in eastern China got so frustrated with slow changing traffic lights that he tried to tamper with the signals, creating massive jams and a road accident, Chinese media reported.

The man was held by police and put in detention for seven days after he was found to have tampered with the lights at two intersections in Qingdao in Shandong province early on Tuesday morning, the Qilu Evening News reported.

His actions caused gridlock along sections of the road near the two vandalised sets of traffic lights and a non-fatal car accident, according to the newspaper.

The man, whose full name was not given, later told police he had been impatient with the lights “taking too long to change”, particularly in the middle of the night, an unnamed police officer said in a report on the Miaopai video sharing website.

The incident unfolded when the man was driving a black Volkswagen at 3.08 am on Tuesday. He got out of the car at a red light and began fiddling with the traffic signal box at the intersection. The red light flashed, before continuously blinking yellow, surveillance video showed.

He then got out at another junction at 3.17am to tamper with a traffic light, causing it to also flash yellow.