Directly-elected lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I, who chairs the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) 1st Standing Committee, which is currently reviewing a government-initiated new road traffic bill, said yesterday that pushing a motorcycle on the pavement will lead to a fine.
The government proposes that the new Road Traffic Law will replace the current one enacted back in 2007.
Addressing a press briefing after yesterday’s closed-door meeting reviewing the new road traffic bill, Lei said that the committee asked the government to clarify the scope of the new rules.
While driving on the pavement is already illegal, Lei said that some committee members were concerned whether other problems could arise from the new rules, as there are situations when a rider needs to push their motorcycle along the pavement to reach a private carpark or a garage.
The bill also proposes to bar pedestrians crossing the road from using mobile phones or any type of mobile device such as tablets and e-readers, except when they are using a mobile phone with a hands-free device. The bill proposes that offenders will be fined 300 patacas.
Lei said that committee members had expressed concern that there has been a lot of discussion in the community about the proposed rule concerning pedestrians using their mobile phone while crossing the street, and some committee members said they worried that it would be difficult to enforce the law, such as to prove that a pedestrian was using his or her mobile phone at that time.
Some committee members were also concerned about the legislative intent and felt that the danger of crossing the road was not limited to the use of a phone and that “reading a book while crossing the road” was also a dangerous kind of behaviour, and wondered whether this would result in a fine.
At the same time, riders and passengers of both heavy and light motorbikes are required to wear helmets under the current law. However, the bill proposes that riders and passengers of bicycles are also required to wear helmets, and all of them would be required to wear helmets of a specified standard as, otherwise, they would be liable to a fine.
According to Lei, some committee members are also concerned about whether the wearing of helmets would also be required for cycling on roads other than public roads, such as cycle tracks, and they also expressed concern about the specifications of the helmet.
The committee will continue to review the bill article-by-article and ask government officials to respond to their concerns.
This photo taken in September shows motorcycles parking on a pavement in Toi San district. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
