Just Saying | Want to solve Hong Kong's out-of-control illegal parking problem? Raise the fine to HK$2,500
Yonden Lhatoo says we're too soft on motorists, including chauffeur-driven tycoons, adding to the traffic chaos on Hong Kong’s crowded roads
I was in Kowloon City over the weekend, sitting in a friend’s car as she drove around looking for a non-existent parking spot. I wanted to have a decent cup of coffee in one of the refreshingly new Western-style cafes that have sprung up in the heart of the old district over the last few years, but we had to give up after 15 minutes because there was just no place to park the car.
As usual, there was traffic chaos on each and every one of the side roads that form a popular retail grid between the main thoroughfares of Carpenter Road and Boundary Street, with double- and triple-parked private cars and delivery vans reducing vehicle flow to a one-lane crawl. A whole lot of honking and swearing was going on.
Like most Hong Kong people, I normally move on, but this time I decided to make a stand and called police to complain. I knew if I didn’t, nobody else would do a damn thing.
According to official statistics, the average number of fixed penalty tickets issued daily against offenders has surged 15 per cent from last year and 21 per cent from the year before.
Police handed out 723,129 tickets in the first seven months of this year. That’s an average of 3,379 a day and works out to one ticket every 26 seconds.
It’s pretty clear police are working on the problem, but it’s far from enough. You only have to take a look at black spots in Central, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok on any given day to see drivers flouting the law with impunity.