Put pedestrians first when road planning, group urges
Officials are forcing people into the path of traffic by ignoring needs of the majority to focus on the 7.5 per cent who own a car, say campaigners
Lam Kam Road winds for nearly 6km between the picturesque Lam Tsuen Country Park and Tai Mo Shan Country Park in the northwest New Territories, with villages dotted along both sides.
But little provision is made for pedestrians and there is not even a crossing near the shrine, residents say, despite the two banyans drawing huge crowds seeking good luck, especially during the Lunar New Year.
In the worst traffic accident to occur there recently, a 13-year-old boy spent more than a month in hospital after he was hit by an SUV while crossing the road near his home.
People in the neighbourhood have been complaining about the danger for years. But it is only one of many pedestrian black spots in Hong Kong - a city where over 3,000 pedestrians have been killed or injured in accidents every year for the past five years.
Campaigners lobbying for safer roads collected 159 examples last year of footpaths that are too narrow or are missing altogether, and inadequate crossings. The black spots often force pedestrians onto the roads, where they are at risk of being hit by traffic.