I read with interest the letters on pedestrian safety by Christine Loh and an anonymous author, both of which appeared in these columns on August 4. These letters rightly addressed the risks faced by pedestrians and the need for more pedestrian schemes.
Urban designers are still preoccupied with motor vehicles, and indifferent to the modern trend towards pedestrianisation. The disadvantages of more roads - air pollution, noise, accidents and landscape destruction - are easily accepted as part of modern society. As the insatiable demand for vehicles grows, attempts to improve vehicular mobility have proved to be expensive, short-lived and are often implemented at the expense of pedestrians.
Irresponsible driving behaviour is extremely common, but is readily tolerated. Every day we see motorists speeding, tailgating and mistreating pedestrians. Even if we think that, on occasion, accident victims, including the elderly and children, should in part be blamed for their 'poor sense of road safety', can we justify the penalties they incur in the forms of wounds, handicap, even death? Some drivers think they can make such a justification, consciously or subconsciously, as they are prepared to confront pedestrians with no room for mistakes.
Vehicles frequently crash on to footpaths. Sometimes, this leads to tragedy. Road improvements enable drivers to increase speeds. Pedestrians and passengers waiting at stops for buses, are left in a vulnerable position. The section of Lung Cheung Road at Wong Tai Sin, which practically operates as an expressway, is a classic example, where it took a number of fatal accidents before a concrete barrier was installed. Still, people at bus-stops are left exposed to traffic. You can see similar problems at Gloucester Road, Aberdeen Plaza, Kwun Tong Road, Castle Peak Road-Kwai Chung and there are many more examples. Planners have advanced little over the years, in the design of footpaths. What is needed is logical routeing of footpaths and alternative barrier systems. The protection afforded to pedestrians on pavements next to many major roads is grossly inadequate.
Many opportunities still exist to rationally route footpaths. However, without an appreciation of the risks experienced by pedestrians and a genuine respect for them, these opportunities have been overlooked.
If our city has been saved from the worst effects of vehicle pollution, the merits must have largely been attributed to those who have selected to walk. As a reward, the planning of road networks should give much higher priority to the convenience, comfort and safety of pedestrians. Forcing them up and down footbridges and through shopping arcades should only be the exception rather than the norm.