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Road safety in Hong Kong
OpinionLetters

LettersStudy says left-hand drive is safer

  • A research paper has suggested a relationship between whether we drive on the left or right side of the road and neurophysiology

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Busy traffic is seen in October 2018 at Hong Kong’s Eastern Cross Harbour Tunnel. Cars in Hong Kong drive on the left side of the road, with the driver sitting on the right, different from the mainland. Photo: Dickson Lee
Letters
In Ken Cheng’s letter from New York, “Time for Hong Kong and Macau to drive on the right” (June 13), he wrote that less confusion will make it safer. 

A research paper from Elsevier published last year, titled “(Side) effects of the rule of the road and neurophysiology on traffic safety: A hypothesis”, conjectured that the safety of driving on the left-hand side or right-hand side of the road can be associated with neurophysiology. 

A definite conclusion could not be reached due to the scarcity and limitations of empirical data into road traffic accidents associated with left-hand or right-hand drive, and more study was required, but the authors suggested that “the rule of the road” and neurophysiology may have important unrecognised “side” effects.

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The paper predicted that driving on the left-hand side of the road (with the driver sitting on the right-hand side of the vehicle) was safer.

Neil Dunn, Kowloon Tong

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