Last week, I posted an item about a new plan to get cab drivers in Shanghai to stop rolling down their windows and spitting in the street. It just didn’t seem like a scheme to get them to spit inside the taxi, using gross-sounding “spit sacks,” was much of an improvement.

As it turns out, I wasn’t alone. Critics have been speaking their minds on the issue, pointing out such potential dangers as the bags spilling and unleashing the malodourous aroma of spit throughout the taxi.

Local authorities seem stunned by the reaction, and are doing damage control. They say they will encourage drivers to keep the bags out of sight and only use them when nobody is around - a far cry from the initial story, when passengers were invited to share the sack.

One Shanghai critic of the plan brought the whole thing full circle, saying that instead of rolling down their windows to spit, drivers may now roll them down to empty whole spit sacks onto the street. Here’s the story:

A taxi driver and pedestrian argue after a minor traffic accident in Shanghai in a 2001 file photo. REUTERS/China Photos