70 kph

70码 (qī shí ma): 70 KPH

This term originates from an incident in Hangzhou on May 7, 2009 when a young man, Hu Bin, ran over another young man, Tan Zhuo, as he crossed a sidewalk. In the police report, officers wrote that Hu’s car was moving at “about 70 KPH.” (Note: they used an informal word, “码” for KPH.) This ignited controversy because onlookers believed that the car was traveling at least 100 KPH. Additionally, the driver of the car was a “second generation wealthy” young man who was driving a Mitsubishi sports car while the victim was a young college student from a working class family. This made people suspicious that the driver’s wealth influenced the police report and ignited a powder keg of built-up resentment towards the wealthy who used government connections for personal gain. Perhaps because of the public outcry or the circumstances of the accident (the collision caused Tan Zhuo to fly five meters high and twenty meters forward), the police department changed its estimate of Hu Bin’s speed to 100 KPH and sentenced Hu to a three year jail term.

The event is parodied in the "War of Internet Addiction" in which a character drives a motorcycle, the speedometer of which is designed so that speeds above 70 are still displayed as 70. The character boasts that he can never go over 70.

2009 年5月7日晚8时5分左右，杭州青年男子胡斌驾驶浙A608Z0号三菱牌小型跑车，在文二西路由东向西行驶至南都德迦西区门口时，撞到横过马路的男青年谭卓，受害者谭卓被撞飞五米高，20米远，造成谭受伤经浙江省立同德医院抢救无效死亡。让观者惊愕的是，事发后肇事者胡斌的态度很差，撞死人压根不当一回事！肇事者朋友事后赶到现场，嬉笑抽烟，无良至极！随后杭州西湖区交警大队召开了关于“昨晚文二西路红色三菱跑车撞死行人事件”即“5.7交通事故”的通报会。就在这个通报会上，交警发言人说：通过旁证和肇事者的口供，当时车速在70公里/小时左右。这种完全不科学也不负责任的发言，引起了网民不满，随即便有“70码”一说在网络上流传。类似于“为了你我的生命安全，请大家以70码的速度顶贴顶起5米高20米远”网络流行语迅速流行于网络。暴露网友对此事的处理极度愤慨和不满。

"I was just going 70!"

Girl weeping before a memorial to Tan Zhuo located at the scene of the accident.

This picture of the vehicle is said to come from Hu Bin's QQ account which a netizen claimed to hack into.

This cartoon illustrates the two potential crimes for which Hu could be prosecuted. On the left is "traffic accident" with a maximum penalty of three years. On the right is "disturbing public safety" which can be punishable by death. Hu was prosecuted for committing a traffic accident and sentenced to three years in prison.