Twice within a week I've come across motorists driving without lights. Not driving just with side lights, as taxi drivers and minibus drivers continue to do in contravention of the law, but without any lights at all, front or back.
The first time I flashed the fellow, came along side him and honked him, gesticulated, and mouthed (pretty clearly, I thought) "Your lights aren't working, mate!", but all to no avail. The problem with Hong Kong people is that if you try to communicate anything on the roads, they invariably think you're accusing them of something.
The second time, I managed to pass the Triad van driver I'd been flashing from behind. When we stopped at the traffic lights, I got out of my car, walked towards his lethal weapon and pointed at his lamps. A look of blank incomprehension settled deeper on his face and that of his sidekick who had his flip-flops on the dashboard and a Marlboro sticking out of the passenger window.
"Hoi dang!" I shouted, and this time he got the message. He even gave me a smile.
Unfortunately, by this time the lights had changed and I was forced to run the gauntlet of a cacophony of horns as I sprinted back to my vehicle.
"Why is it," I reflected as I passed through the Lion Rock Tunnel, "that their horns never don't work?"
The first time I flashed the fellow, came along side him and honked him, gesticulated, and mouthed (pretty clearly, I thought) "Your lights aren't working, mate!", but all to no avail. The problem with Hong Kong people is that if you try to communicate anything on the roads, they invariably think you're accusing them of something.
The second time, I managed to pass the Triad van driver I'd been flashing from behind. When we stopped at the traffic lights, I got out of my car, walked towards his lethal weapon and pointed at his lamps. A look of blank incomprehension settled deeper on his face and that of his sidekick who had his flip-flops on the dashboard and a Marlboro sticking out of the passenger window.
"Hoi dang!" I shouted, and this time he got the message. He even gave me a smile.
Unfortunately, by this time the lights had changed and I was forced to run the gauntlet of a cacophony of horns as I sprinted back to my vehicle.
"Why is it," I reflected as I passed through the Lion Rock Tunnel, "that their horns never don't work?"
2 comments:
It's their brains that don't work.
Actually, it's only when I drive at night in the UK that I realise how well lit the roads in Hong Kong are, otherwise it would be hard to overlook the fact that one is driving without lights.
Now if they were only signposted as well as they're lit...
with today's visibility one should have had the lights on all day as well like the do in Northern Europe. But try explaining that one... sigh. I'd start with indicators and work up from there.
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