Yan Zhengping helps a pedestrian to cross the street in Jinan, capital city of east China's Shandong Province on Monday, July 20, 2009. This retired teacher sparked nationwide controversy as he threw bricks at cars that ran red lights in Lanzhou, capital city of northwest China's Gansu Province on July 9, 2009. Instead of throwing bricks at cars, Yan now uses his camera to take pictures of them since becoming a traffic warden in Jinan. [Photo: CFP]

by Zhao Ruoyan

Yan Zhengping, a retired teacher who used to throw bricks at passing cars that breach traffic rules in Lanzhou, has reinvented himself as a traffic warden to protect the safety of pedestrians in Jinan, the capital city of east China's Shandong Province on Monday, reports the local newspaper Qilu Evening News.

The 74-year old Yan started to work as a temporary traffic warden at a zebra crossing in front of Shandong Normal University in Jinan on Monday morning. Instead of throwing bricks, Yan Zhengping now uses his camera to take photos of cars that breach traffic rules and record the relevant information on his notebook.

Yan Zhengping described Jinan's traffic conditions as reasonably good after he worked to regulate traffic in another location in Jinan. The next stop on Yan Zhengping's traffic duty was in Nanjing, where a string of car collisions have recently been reported.

Yan told a reporter that he wouldn't throw bricks at the cars anymore as he has already achieved his intention of gaining the attention of both the government and the general public.

Yan Zhengping became an Internet sensation after he lobbed bricks at 14 cars at an intersection for more than three hours on July 9, 2009, an event that was witnessed by many people in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province.

Yan explained that the reason behind his actions was the fact he himself had experienced a dangerous situation at a zebra crossing.

He added that he read a recent report stating that as many as six people were killed in the first half of 2009 by cars breaking traffic rules at zebra crossings in Lanzhou.