Population: 30m
Sticker: -
Drives: left, litres, km
Obligatory: ?.
Did you know?
It is illegal to use a handheld mobile phone while driving. It is punishable by a fine of up to HK$2000 (~?200). Hands-free devices are not affected.
[b]System[b]
Now where have I seen all this before? Ah yes, Britain. Hong Kong?s roads are clones of their British counterparts. Signage, road markings and traffic regulations are almost identical to those of Britain.
[b]Urban areas[b]
Everywhere. It?s quite hard to drive out of an urban area in Hong Kong. However, as in the UK the speed limit changes are marked by the standard roundels.
[b]Traffic lights[b]
Red-red/amber-green-amber-red.
[b]Road lighting[b]
Most roads are lit up. Indeed, to the extent that the new bridges built as part of the Airport motorway are lit up very beautiful lighting, such as neon lights along the deck edge and multiple coloured up-lighters on the cables.
[b]Network Numbering[b]
There aren?t that many roads to number, so only up to two digits. Road numbers appear to have been assigned incrementally. Unlike the UK, roads have no letter prefix and are shown on signs with the numbers within US-style shields.
[b]Motorway junctions[b]
If you ever wanted to see what would?ve happened had the UK built more urban-motorways then this is the place to go. Flyovers, tunnels and underpasses are everywhere thanks to the territory?s dense population and terrain. Slips appear and disappear and roads squeeze through gaps between buildings. Nonetheless, junctions are very recognisably British in their influence, like everything else. Junctions aren?t numbered, but then it would be pretty tricky to number junctions that appear left right and centre, although that didn?t stop them trying on the M8 in Glasgow.
[b]Signage[b]
Pretty much identical to British signage. Signs indicating prohibitions often have diagonal-bars unlike their UK counterparts; e.g. ?no motor vehicles? has a red bar across it, making the sign easier to understand ? as opposed to ?motorcycle display team? or ?low-flying motorcycles? as it appears to mean on UK signs!
Background colour on different road-class signs are reversed from their UK versions, so motorways are white on green while normal roads are white on blue.[b]Quirk[b]
None really. At least not if you?re British. Although seeing Cantonese on signs next to the English in standard transport font takes a couple of moments to get used to!
[b]Final thought[b]
A roadgeek?s heaven when it comes to getting a chance to look at a huge variety of road styles in a small area, and a great chance to see urban motorways and tunnels. It also provides an insight into what many British cities would?ve looked like had they been remodelled as desired in the fifties, sixties and seventies, with overhead walkways and concrete tower-blocks everywhere. It?s really easy to see it all thanks to that other British device in Hong Kong, the double-decker bus. These run frequently and everywhere, often long distances along the motorways and dual-carriageways, so just swipe your ?Octopus Card? (transport smart card) and go and sit at the front of the top deck for some great views of both an amazing skyline as well as some truly interesting roads.
Nick <HR> [b]N[b] i c h o l a s [b]A[b] l l a n
www.allan-online.co.uk
