Canton Road Traffic Problems

Over the years, Canton Road in Tsim Sa Tsui has become one of the places with the most traffic violators in Hong Kong.

This past Sunday, while enjoying a cold one from the cool environment of Hard Rock Cafe, I observed numerous traffic violations just outside Hard Rock Cafe on Canton Road. These violators consist of Mini Buses, Taxis and private vehicles.

So, over the half hour period I had the following photo documentary of what transpired:

First the Green Mini Bus #77M, #78 and #6A

Green Mini Bus Violations

As you can see the Mini Bus freely let passengers on and off their buses without stopping at the curb and in most cases they simply stop in the middle (center) lane of Canton Road, even when there are traffic around them.

We cannot blame these Mini Bus drivers completely. As their bus stops had been blocked by taxi waiting for fares most of the time.

Speaking of Taxi traffic violators, take a look at the following photos:

Taxi Traffic Violators #1

Taxi Traffic Violators #2

You can see that not only do the Taxis on Canton Road selfishly block the bus stops for Green Mini Buses and the Double Decker Buses, they also freely let passengers off at crosswalk during red and green lights.

In one of the photo you will notice that a Taxi was trying to back itself into the line right in front of a driveway with another Taxi blocking the driveway waiting to get into line.

Private cars are not immune either. As you can see below, drivers freely leaves their car unattended on the side of the road with their hazards lights on.

Private Car Traffic Violators

Is this an example of the selfishness of Hong Kong drivers? Or is this just an example of the minority of drivers in Hong Hong, that I so happen to come across during the half hour of random observation on a holiday afternoon? You can be the judge. Can you imagine this scene on a Saturday or rush hour?

I hope that the Department of Traffic or the Hong Kong Police will act on this soon, before the congestion on Canton Road get any worst.