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KILLER T: 9 OUT OF 10 DRIVERS IGNORE STOP SIGN AT DEADLY CHEUNG SHA WAN JUNCTION

 

A survey of a deadly Cheung Sha Wan junction, where a man was run over and killed last month, found fewer than one in 10 motor vehicle drivers obeying the “Stop” sign.

Of 100 vehicles counted passing through the junction of Camp Street and Fuk Wing street on a weekday morning, the day after the deadly crash, only nine drivers stopped at the junction, marked with a stop sign, thick double white lines and “STOP” painted on the road.

For around 10 minutes of the survey, a police van cruising the area made no apparent difference to driver behaviour.

One minibus driver appeared to see the police vehicle behind him and stalled while trying to negotiate the junction and light a cigarette at the same time.

Transit Jam carried out the survey just 24 hours after pedestrian Mr Law, 85, was killed at the junction.

A government garbage truck, operated by the Food and Environmental Health Department (FEHD) was turning right into Fuk Wing Street at 7:17am when the driver Mr Chung, 34, reportedly “saw a black shadow at his right side and stopped immediately”. The black shadow was Law, who was crushed by the truck and died shortly afterwards in hospital without regaining consciousness.

FEHD later said it could not comment on the crash as the “incident is now under investigation”.

The few blocks around the deadly crash site seem quiet, wide and safe, perhaps lulling pedestrians into a false sense of security: while the streets are not as busy as nearby main roads, occasional rat-running drivers use the streets as a short-cut, driving at high speed. And commercial vehicles plying the area, including heavy trucks and garbage trucks, move at speed while their drivers concentrate on phones, cigarettes and other distractions.

Pedestrians prefer to walk across the junction in the road than take the long detour created by railings

The area is also plagued with illegal double- and triple-parking from motor repair shops, while trucks and vans park on corners and pedestrian crossings reducing visibility and access.

Extensive railings around the Fuk Wing Street Primary School make the area difficult to navigate for pedestrians, with the only “legal” road crossing at a blind corner of Camp Street. Many pedestrians in the area, from elderly and parents to delivery workers, choose instead to walk on the road around the railings, putting them at risk from drivers who refuse to obey road signs or take care at the junction.

This car, NH 1028, is parked in the middle of the road. Police cruising by took no notice. Shops and businesses in the district occupy large areas of pavement and kerbside, making pedestrian navigation difficult and dangerous.

1 reply »

  1. From the short clip, I seem to only count 3 cars indicating too. So cars not respecting the stop sign, not indicating… This seems to be quite the usual HK stuff.

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