Hong Kong is going “all in” on pedestrian safety with a sparkly new approach to road crossings

Hot on the heels of the flashing red ground-level lighting alerts, a new wave of pedestrian crossing upgrades is underway. Not only are we seeing old-school orange globe lights, but they now come with a halo of LEDs and additional white lights embedded directly into the posts.

This is no bad thing, especially considering the number of people wandering around taking selfies and ignoring traffic. Soho and the mid-levels tourism zones are prime examples of this, and we need these tourists alive and uninjured.

It’s encouraging to see that safety measures are evolving. While the red ground lights were aimed at the phone-watching zombies (many of whom still ignore them), this wave seems to be about alerting drivers. A clear signal to motorists that pedestrian, distracted or not, have the right of way in certain zones.

To be fair these selfie-takers, view-hunters, and content-creators are mostly doing something positive for the city. I’m glad they’re being protected from being mowed down by food delivery riders, truckers or our veteran taxi pilots. After all these visitors are promoting Hong Kong to the world; so let’s keep them safe.

Credit where is due. Whoever came up with this simple yet effective upgrade deserves a commendation. It benefits everyone, both residents and visitors alike and being done at relatively low cost.

If you need specific input regarding a strategic Hong Kong challenge or related legal matters in the HKSAR you can always DM me and check out my profile at https://www.ajhalkes.com

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