He might also not be aware that our own Transport Department’s website warns drivers that they “have the legal and moral responsibility to take proper care to avoid accidents with pedestrians at all times and places – even if the pedestrians are jaywalking”.

In Hong Kong and elsewhere, jaywalking is illegal and potentially dangerous. That is why it’s rarely an activity pedestrians choose to engage in if they have better options.

There is something in transport planning called “desire lines”: the route people prefer to take between their points of origin and destination. In its simplest form, it is a straight line connecting the two points, as best exemplified by paths beaten over generations across a village green.

In cities, desire lines are far more complex and can involve travel on public transport, for example, in addition to walking. But the essence is the same – all things being equal, people prefer their journeys to be as short, direct and unencumbered as possible.

Unfortunately, the design of transport infrastructure in Hong Kong has long given pedestrians’ desire lines a low priority. The Transport Department’s design practices have generally followed mid-20th century global trends, based on the premise that a complete separation of motor vehicles and pedestrians is beneficial to both. With minimum commingling, people and vehicles will move more quickly, efficiently and safely.

But because vehicles are bigger, heavier and less manoeuvrable than people, the practical implication of these policies in most cases has been that pedestrians had to yield to vehicles. They are diverted to limited road crossings, footbridges and tunnels, often extending their journeys and adding unwelcome exertion. In other words, pedestrians were asked to sacrifice their desire lines in the name of improved vehicular flows.

Car lanes have been removed in favour of wider sidewalks, bike lanes and bus lanes. Traffic-calming measures including speed bumps and tight road geometry were implemented in busy pedestrian areas such as business districts, shopping centres and near schools.

Alas, Hong Kong is well behind these trends. New roads are still designed for optimal speed and vehicular flows, and new developments are built around the principle of the strict separation of vehicles and pedestrians. In older urban areas, the government has doubled down on the policy of fencing off sidewalks, corralling pedestrians and funnelling them towards proper crossing facilities.

In short, despite an official policy to improve walkability, the actual design approach of our mobility infrastructure continues to deprive pedestrians of their desire lines.

Global experience shows that this could trigger a vicious cycle where people are more inclined to drive because walking is so uncomfortable, leading to further congestion and pollution. It could also drive even more frustrated pedestrians to engage in risky jaywalking.

Once lower road speeds are accepted, safety and pedestrian convenience will cease to be a zero-sum game and a wide range of design possibilities will open up.

Let’s hope there are open minds in our government who see those possibilities and understand the need to go beyond enforcement. It is the shortest route to a sustainable and safe future for everyone moving around Hong Kong.

Oren Tatcher is an architect and planner who specialises in urban mobility. He is a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design