Inside Report (4)

Owning a truck in China is not without its special hazards. Recently this newspaper reported the story of a Sichuan peasant who was allowed to buy a secondhand truck with his own savings and a bank loan, to be used to transport goods for his commune. Now, travelers from Sichuan report, local police are telling drivers to beware of private trucks: The truck in question, driven by a friend, was in an accident and the peasant had to pay 3, 000 yuan (about $2,000) in insurance claims. "It's best not to drive private trucks," one driver reported the police as saying.