I HAVE to travel frequently to and from the New Territories. On three separate occasions, flying objects from lorries travelling at high speeds with uncovered loads, have hit my car. On each occasion the car sustained damage - a chipped windscreen and dented bodywork.
I have had to pay a great deal of money for repairs. I hate to think what injuries I myself might have sustained, if I had been driving an open-topped car and this dangerous flying debris had hit me.
I hold the Transport Department responsible for not bringing in suitable laws which would force open-top lorries and other types of vehicles carrying loose loads, to cover such loads. The Hong Kong Government could learn from Singapore in this respect. Drivers and owners of vehicles caught driving without proper covers over loads, are heavily fined.
There is so much construction work going on in every part of Hong Kong these days, that there is a real need to look into laws that give protection to motorists. Hopefully, others drivers who have had similar experiences to mine, will speak out and put pressure on the Transport Department to act quickly.
My second complaint is that on highways in the New Territories, trucks weighing 5.5 tonnes or more are, by law, prevented from crossing into the right-hand fast lane. However, I see many such trucks move in and out of the fast lanes.
Many trucks carry large containers. It is impossible for a driver to know if they are full or empty, and what is the weight of their cargo. Only trucks with a weight of 2.5 tonnes are legally permitted to travel in the fast lanes. A fully-laden container truck, would weigh 5.5 tonnes or more.
