Police look into making Lantau drivers go slow after cow deaths
Bumps, ramps and special traffic-slowing road surfaces are among measures being considered by police to curb speeding on Lantau following the death of eight cows in a hit-and-run accident last week.
Bumps, ramps and special traffic-slowing road surfaces are among measures being considered by police to curb speeding on Lantau following the death of eight cows in a hit-and-run accident last week.
Lantau police district commander Samson Cho Ming-lung said yesterday that he would contact the Highways Department about the possible implementation of speed-curbing measures along South Lantau Road.
Cho said 477 cases of speeding had taken place in the first five months of this year along the stretch of the road that animal protection groups claim is a danger to humans and animals.
He spoke after a meeting with members of the Lantau Buffalo Association as the police continued an investigation into the multiple cow deaths outside Tong Fuk village on Wednesday.
Cho said they had discussed heightening public awareness and improving roads to curb speeding.
"We are thinking about speed-reduction ramps and surfaces that deter motorists from speeding," he said. "Many of these proposals are things the police cannot do alone and involve other departments such as the Highways Department, but we are quite prepared to make suggestions to those departments."
Cho also said they were planning "experience sharing" sessions with animal welfare groups to help police officers better understand feral cows and how to deal with them and other animals.
Association chairwoman Ho Loy said their calls for anti-speeding measures had gone ignored for years, but she was encouraged by the outcome of a meeting with police Thursday, after the accident, and looked forward to sharing their knowledge of the cattle with officers.
Ho said the sessions would be especially useful for officers coming to serve in rural Lantau from more urban areas.
An expatriate woman, 49, was arrested and later bailed following the discovery of the dead cows. Her Mitsubishi SUV, discovered at a nearby car park dented and stained with blood and animal hair, is undergoing forensic testing.
Police yesterday renewed their appeal for anyone with information about the incident to come forward and said they had not ruled out the possibility that other vehicles might be involved.
The association is offering a HK$100,000 reward to anyone providing information that leads to the successful prosecution of the culprit.
