Q How can road safety be improved?
Sure Hong Kong has bad drivers and, yes, a lot of them speed, but these problems aren't particular to just this city.
There are road safety problems all over the world - we have to look at what is different in Hong Kong. If you have experience in driving overseas, then you will have noticed the appalling road markings and sign posts while driving in Hong Kong. This is one aspect, but it is an important one. Hong Kong, more than most other places, is where you need to have driven already before you know the way. Sign posts are confusing and irregular, and the road markings complicated and illogical. There will be a sign marking a destination and another giving drivers no time to react safely.
The same goes with speed-limit signs. Hong Kong doesn't have regular signs along roads so it is easy to go the wrong speed in some areas. Surely there are people who would not speed if they realised what the speed limit actually was. The only way some find out is by getting caught.
The next problem is learning to drive in Hong Kong. Other people must have driven near a motoring school where all lanes are blocked by white cars that insist on driving at 20km/h. It confounds me why they are taught to drive in a way that is dangerous, frustrating and illegal. Surely it makes more sense to teach them how to drive at the correct speed so as to equip them for normal driving?
The government is at fault and if it really wants to improve conditions it should make road signs clear and helpful. It should also teach learners how to drive without being too cautious. Then it can start dealing with the perennial problems of road safety. Nathan Sarchet-Waller, Sha Tin