Letters | Hong Kong’s selfish drivers must wake up and stop breaking the law

Walking up Ice House Street towards the Fringe Club in Central on a Tuesday at 12.15pm, I saw 19 cars sitting on the double yellow lines. The drivers were sleeping, reading, on the phone or eating lunch. Meanwhile, the traffic descending the slope built up and the honking began. Not a ticket or warning was issued.

Walking down the slope at 1.15pm, there were still 15 cars on the double lines and new ones arriving. Many of those vehicles were the same ones I had seen when I walked up the slope, only this time the drivers were asleep. This is not a unique situation and is replicated in many locations all over town where selfish behaviour prevails.

Norman de Brackinghe, Pok Fu Lam

Help ride-hailing sector serve Hong Kong better

Many people prefer Uber rides to taxi rides. The vehicles are better maintained and available at any time, which is convenient, and the route and fare are fixed beforehand, whereas taxi drivers are often criticised for refusing customers or taking circuitous routes so that the metre keeps ticking away. However, most ride-hailing services offered by Uber in Hong Kong are illegal. The government has explained that Uber drivers without hire-car permits are breaking the law.