Traffic light damaged by protestors

Charges are unlikely to be made against the taxi driver who knocked down and killed a 24-year old pedestrian in Mong Kok on 1 February, according to a police spokeswoman talking to TAC MOB this morning.

“A layman’s view of the case shows charges unlikely given that the pedestrian was not using the pedestrian crossing when crossing the road,” said the spokeswoman. “We don’t have the information [on the charge] yet but it is unlikely.”

According to the Transport Department, the accident occured around 60 metres north of the pedestrian crossing, which would make the damaged lights less of a factor – however, safety railings and central reservation shrubs, which prevent pedestrians making a dash across the fast-moving highway, were missing, and could potentially be a factor.

TD figures show traffic lights were destroyed or damaged 1,590 times during protests last year. Some 53km of safety railings have been removed, either by protestors using them as weapons/barricades or by the government to foil such acts. Government figures show the broken signals directly caused a total of 20 traffic accidents between June and November last year, resulting in a total of 41 injuries.

While TD claims to have repaired all damaged traffic lights as at 2 January, the set around the site of the fatal accident may have been damaged in clashes since then. TD claims to have posted notices on traffic light poles to be repaired so as to remind road users to take extra care and pay attention to safety, but there is no such notice on the Nathan Road lights.

Report from the scene, highlighting not only the vandalised infrastructure but also the driver culture along Nathan Road, which puts pedestrians lives at risk.