WEIRD NEWS OF THE WEEK: Chinese police force bad drivers to sit and stare at full beam headlights

Officers in the southern city of Shenzhen are forcing drivers who dazzle other motorists to stare at full-beam headlights for five minutes.

10:33 13 August 2014

How do you like it? Police in China have started punishing drivers who dazzle other motorists by forcing them to stare at full-beam headlights for five minutes. Offenders are ordered to sit on a small plastic stool and stare at the front of a police vehicle.

Shenzhen traffic police announced the move on their Weibo social networking account, saying it was an “appropriate experience” what would make offenders “sense the harm” of flashing their lights.

"From now on, traffic police will make those found carelessly using bright lights to look at them for five minutes," they warned.

In addition to the optical ordeal, offenders are also lectured about properly using their headlights and fined 300 Yuan.

Some people strongly disagree with the move and vented their anger on Chinese social media.

One blogger, called Darkcity2, said: "I live in Shanghai. Of all the absolutely mind-bogglingly inconsiderate **** drivers do on the road here, driving with your high beams on is low on the list."

However, some people said that the punishment wasn’t enough.

"I'm hitting 'likes' with my hands and feet," @shenzhenlaocui wrote.

"Full-beam headlights are evil. I suggest they extend the stare time to 30 minutes, splitting it into three time periods, and let people take a 60-second break in between."