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Letters | Hong Kong bus crash tragedy: is city failing to focus on Road Users’ Code?

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    Firefighters at the scene after a school bus rolled down a slope and crashed into pedestrians in North Point on December 10. Photo: Dickson Lee
    Did the horrific bus accident in North Point on Monday occur due to insufficient education and road engineering (“Call for parking restrictions after bus rolls down slope and kills four”, December 12)? First, regarding insufficient education, we may have failed to educate all drivers on the Road Users’ Code, in this case the section on parking downhill in Chapter 5 for all drivers which states: “Turn the steering wheel to the left, so that any forward movement of the vehicle will be checked by the kerb. Leave the vehicle in reverse gear and apply the handbrake firmly.”

    If these three requirements had been followed correctly, perhaps this accident would have been avoided. The very simple act of turning the wheels to the left would reduce the chance of such an accident in the event of a mechanical failure or a failure to set the handbrake firmly.

    Second, there are many road engineering measures that could be implemented to prevent such runaway accidents. An excellent measure would be to widen the pavement along both sides to restrict the road width to 3.5 metres, install a higher kerb and steel bollards to cure the epidemic of illegal parking and, finally, add a chicane near the end of the road with reinforced steel bollards strong enough to stop runaway vehicles.

    This is not the first time that such an accident has occurred and, unless there is enhanced education on the Road Users’ Code and improved road engineering measures, it will not be the last. The Transport Department must do more.

    N.R. Dunn, Kowloon

    Seven children were injured when a school bus hit a concrete divider on the Kwun Tong Bypass in Kowloon East on December 11. Photo: Facebook
    Seven children were injured when a school bus hit a concrete divider on the Kwun Tong Bypass in Kowloon East on December 11. Photo: Facebook

    School buses in accidents: where is the focus on transport safety?

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