Sunday, September 30, 2007

Invisible transportation tool 隱形交通工具

Traffic officers are considering a draft traffic regulation requiring that cyclists must ride within one meter off the outer car parking line in the streets.
There will be no physical line painted on the pavement. Where the line exists must be judged by the cyclist himself. They call this an invisible bicycle lane concept.
Not to mention a traffic regulation must be as specific as possible, the one meter invisible lane lies in the most dangerous range for cycling in a street. It's very likely that a car driver would open its door or drive out its parking site abruptly, a cyclist constantly riding so close to the parking line, with no redundant space left as precautionary buffer zone, sooner or later he would be hit by a reckless driver.
Other propositions in the draft regulation seem more likely to dampen the convenience of cycling than to promote the use of this green transportation tool.
I think a functional infrastructure must be raised before any regulation is imposed. Doing nothing but regulating is not what a responsible government should do.
If they have difficulties in supplying bicycle lanes, why not see bicycle as it has always been, as invisible transportation tool - the regulation didn't see it, but it existed ubiquitously.
Note: I use my bicycle for leisure and sport purposes. I dare not ride into the urban jungle.
交通官員想在交通規則中規定,在街上騎腳踏車必須在停車線外緣一公尺內騎乘.
他們不會在馬路上劃線區隔,騎腳踏車的人必須自行判斷線在哪裡.官員稱此為隱形車道概念.
暫不提交通規則應該儘可能明確,對於在街上騎腳踏車來說,這一公尺寬的隱形車道正是最危險的區域,粗心大意的汽車駕駛人很可能穾然打開車門,或者穾然駛出停車格,而騎腳踏車的人經常這麼靠近停車線,沒有預留緩衝的預警空間,被撞上必是遲早的事.
規則草案中的其他規定,在降低騎腳踏車的方便性上,似乎甚於鼓勵綠色交通工具的使用.
我覺得做任何管理之前,應該先把基礎設施弄好,只做管理不做任何建設的政府,稱不上是一個有作為的政府.
如果政府無法提供腳踏車道,何不像以往一樣把腳踏車當成隱形交通工具-法令無視於它的存在,但它卻無所不在.
註:我的腳踏車是休閒運動用的,不太敢騎進去都市叢林.

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