Chuts Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Living here in Hong Kong now for a year and I have to admit that Hong Kongers and possibly Asian people in general don't pay attention to their surroundings. They only develop this situation awareness if they learn how to drive on the road with a car and I would guess the population of people who don't know how to officially drive is 70%. Those that are of legal age that is.Pedestrians really lack this situational awareness and I am vexed by this almost every time I go out and these include times when I am simply walking.Did I read right... There is a EU store in Sham Shui Po? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Living here in Hong Kong now for a year and I have to admit that Hong Kongers and possibly Asian people in general don't pay attention to their surroundings. They only develop this situation awareness if they learn how to drive on the road with a car and I would guess the population of people who don't know how to officially drive is 70%. Those that are of legal age that is.Pedestrians really lack this situational awareness and I am vexed by this almost every time I go out and these include times when I am simply walking.Did I read right... There is a EU store in Sham Shui Po?Not sure. My Chinese is weak. Are you Chinese? Anyways we have a euc group for HK on FB and there's a "Yatwah Li" who supposedly owns a euc store somewhere in HK.https://www.facebook.com/groups/hkeuc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Not sure. My Chinese is weak. Are you Chinese? Anyways we have a euc group for HK on FB and there's a "Yatwah Li" who supposedly owns a euc store somewhere in HK.https://www.facebook.com/groups/hkeucHehe... Just incase anyone calls me a racist, yes I am Chinese. Although born and grew up in UK all my life of 34 years and 1 year living in Hong Kong. Probably consider myself an expat more. My Chinese reading is very basic since there was no need in UK although spoken is still pretty good. Can only get better the longer I live here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McNeil Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 It reminds me of this intern who is working for the original eWheel inventors, the Simerays. He's of Chinese origin & moved from Australia to Shenzhen for a couple months on an internship. He was most vexed by the fact that people in the mainland refused to consider the possibility he didn't speak Cantonese, they thought he was feigning ignorance... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 It reminds me of this intern who is working for the original eWheel inventors, the Simerays. He's of Chinese origin & moved from Australia to Shenzhen for a couple months on an internship. He was most vexed by the fact that people in the mainland refused to consider the possibility he didn't speak Cantonese, they thought he was feigning ignorance... They don't speak Cantonese in the mainland. It's called "putonghua" (aka Mandarin). Hong Kong, however, is Cantonese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McNeil Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Thanks. With the proximity between HK & SHZ, I thought they must surely share the same language. Apparently that used to be the case(?), with the influx of people into the city, it has diluted the Cantonese speakers to a minority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Thanks. With the proximity between HK & SHZ, I thought they must surely share the same language. Apparently that used to be the case(?), with the influx of people into the city, it has diluted the Cantonese speakers to a minority.Yes I would guess less than two percent of the Shenzhen population can speak Cantonese. The entire city are people from other parts of China. Every Chinese New Year the city becomes a ghost town because they all go back to their hometowns. Shenzhen had a population of 30,000 in 1980. Now it's 15 million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymonizer Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I just got stopped by the police near home around 1:00am. my brother was on Ninebot and I was on E.scooter crawling uphill. A police truck full of officers was coming down hill saw us, it put on siren and stop right next to us. We had to stop. We would have probably got away if we were going down hill and they were going up hill, would have zoom passed them before they reacted... They took down our id and gave us a warning. I ask the senior officer if side walk is part of Road, he said it is not but what we are doing is still illegal just like riding bicycle on side walk is illegal. He admitted there are still uncertainty when I started to discuss with him more about road and side walk. He said he just had to stopped us and do something, all because of the recent newspaper cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McNeil Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Guess there's not enough crime in HK to keep the police occupied with more important matters.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 I just got stopped by the police near home around 1:00am. my brother was on Ninebot and I was on E.scooter crawling uphill. A police truck full of officers was coming down hill saw us, it put on siren and stop right next to us. We had to stop. We would have probably got away if we were going down hill and they were going up hill, would have zoom passed them before they reacted... They took down our id and gave us a warning. I ask the senior officer if side walk is part of Road, he said it is not but what we are doing is still illegal just like riding bicycle on side walk is illegal. He admitted there are still uncertainty when I started to discuss with him more about road and side walk. He said he just had to stopped us and do something, all because of the recent newspaper cover. Guess you where not armed with a copy of the Press Release? (I keep copy both English and Chinese on my Phone)I think in this scenario I would have discussed with the police that (At least for the EU and being as nice and none confrontational as possible) that it is still not classed as a vehicle in Hong Kong law and is not subject to the same rules. Bicycles are classed as vehicles hence he is right about bicycle and sidewalks but can't use bicycle laws when dealing with an EU. EU are still considered as toys and confirm with him that they are not allowed on the road (as it is not a vehicle) but as the press release states can be used on none road areas.Surprising though that you where stopped so late. I do think that as it was a police van most of the police in the van where recruits and the senior officer had to give a good example. Might just be the case of bad luck and timing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymonizer Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Would it be illegal to skateboard or roller skate on side walk? Similar rules probably apply to EU too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 From my understanding skateboarding and rollerblading are allowed anywhere bar the road and of course most parks don't allow them either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Would it be illegal to skateboard or roller skate on side walk? Similar rules probably apply to EU too?Well eucs are motorized so you can't exactly try to argue it should be in the same category as skateboards and roller skates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 @Chuts the guys in a local hk euc whatsapp group as well as the Facebook HK EUC group say they keep getting stopped by cops and being IDed warning them that they can't ride on sidewalks. I think HK law doesn't allow "motorized vehicles" on sidewalks. The only argument I have for that is then why would electric wheelchairs be allowed on sidewalks? What do you say when cops said it's not allowed on sidewalks? You just say it's a toy and not a vehicle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 @John Eucist The cops only ID and call it in as a standard procedure that they do in case you are wanted for something outstanding. Sometimes as a way to passively intimidate you, but if you have not done anything criminal its nothing to worry about.When a police officer says its not allowed on the sidewalk don't automatically think they are right. Question them. I would say, being none aggressive as possible."Why am I not allow to use them on the Sidewalk? Even the government don't say I'm not allowed... so what is the problem?" One of the duties of police is public safety and will either assume that EUs are not allowed or in a way try to convince you that it is not allowed. At this point I will pause for a moment for them to sweat a little, as they are not expecting you to reply back to them or even researched into it. Before they have a chance to answer follow up with."I have a press release from the government which is from a government website that says... EUs are illegal to use on the road but they can be used on none road places. I have this press release in both Chinese and English if you have a preference which language it is in." At this point you would be searching for this press release on your smart phone. I find that its good to also take a screenshot of the press release and save it on your phone and show that as its easier to find. Once you have the information on screen, try not to hand over the phone completely because you need to do some screen navigation. Make a point to draw the police officers attention to the address bar and show that it is a "gov.hk" website. Then scroll down to the bottom of the press release to the most important part, zoom in and for added effect if you choose you can read out loud what it says with the officer looking at the screen together.At this point I would reconfirm that you use cycle lanes where they are available and when you do use sidewalks that you are extra careful. That in cases where there are too many people that you step off and push / carry your wheel.Obviously, this won't stop police from stopping you and in the grand scheme of things they can't do much to stop people from using EUs on the sidewalks as there is no law regarding it. Some police will stop you just to show members of the public that they are doing something about it, even if nothing comes from it, as someone mentioned in an earlier post. I suppose educating police this way would mean they will be unlikely to stop someone else in the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 @John Eucist The cops only ID and call it in as a standard procedure that they do in case you are wanted for something outstanding. Sometimes as a way to passively intimidate you, but if you have not done anything criminal its nothing to worry about.When a police officer says its not allowed on the sidewalk don't automatically think they are right. Question them. I would say, being none aggressive as possible."Why am I not allow to use them on the Sidewalk? Even the government don't say I'm not allowed... so what is the problem?" One of the duties of police is public safety and will either assume that EUs are not allowed or in a way try to convince you that it is not allowed. At this point I will pause for a moment for them to sweat a little, as they are not expecting you to reply back to them or even researched into it. Before they have a chance to answer follow up with."I have a press release from the government which is from a government website that says... EUs are illegal to use on the road but they can be used on none road places. I have this press release in both Chinese and English if you have a preference which language it is in." At this point you would be searching for this press release on your smart phone. I find that its good to also take a screenshot of the press release and save it on your phone and show that as its easier to find. Once you have the information on screen, try not to hand over the phone completely because you need to do some screen navigation. Make a point to draw the police officers attention to the address bar and show that it is a "gov.hk" website. Then scroll down to the bottom of the press release to the most important part, zoom in and for added effect if you choose you can read out loud what it says with the officer looking at the screen together.At this point I would reconfirm that you use cycle lanes where they are available and when you do use sidewalks that you are extra careful. That in cases where there are too many people that you step off and push / carry your wheel.Obviously, this won't stop police from stopping you and in the grand scheme of things they can't do much to stop people from using EUs on the sidewalks as there is no law regarding it. Some police will stop you just to show members of the public that they are doing something about it, even if nothing comes from it, as someone mentioned in an earlier post. I suppose educating police this way would mean they will be unlikely to stop someone else in the futureExcellent detailed reply. Thank you @Chuts so much for the information and advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Was just reading over my last post and I sure seem angry in it...Maybe better just to state that the Hong Kong government don't recognize electric unicycles as vehicles as stated in press release. So they don't need to be registered, taxed or insured.Edit - Of course to mention that as long as you are not using them on the vehicular road you can use them anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 @Chuts Some people in our HK groups seem to think, with HK law, that the term "road" (道路) includes sidewalks and bike lanes. Not sure if they are right or not though. Key word is 道路http://dictionary.writtenchinese.com/#sk=道路&svt=pinyinroad / path / way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 I think the confusion is in the translation. Chinese call everything road, direct translation such as people road, bike road, car road. The road that holds the meaning is car road. It all goes back to the registration thing (including tax and insurance). You need to register a vehicle to go on the vehicular roads. You don't need to register yourself to walk on people roads... unless you do and I have been breaking the law all this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 Got stopped by a police officer today... But only because I was coming up to traffic lights and the cycle lane ended and he thought there were too many people around for me to keep riding while everyone waited to cross the road. This was close to a metro station. He said I could ride again once I crossed and the cycle lane started again. Other than that didn't even mention anything about the EU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Update to the legislation. Not really saying much more. Should still be able to ride on cycle lanes. With regards to using them on sidewalks what I took from this press release is that you can still use them on sidewalks as long as you are not causing danger to pedestrians. Meaning using them on the narrower sidewalks in the dense city centers will likely have police stopping you. However with wider sidewalk and those closer to rural areas its allowed as the danger is lower, but take care as the police have the right to review and act upon each situation individually. http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201512/09/P201512090307.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 2 hours ago, Chuts said: Update to the legislation. Not really saying much more. Should still be able to ride on cycle lanes. With regards to using them on sidewalks what I took from this press release is that you can still use them on sidewalks as long as you are not causing danger to pedestrians. Meaning using them on the narrower sidewalks in the dense city centers will likely have police stopping you. However with wider sidewalk and those closer to rural areas its allowed as the danger is lower, but take care as the police have the right to review and act upon each situation individually. http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201512/09/P201512090307.htm Quote: There may be a need to set up designated lanes for mobility devices which are separated from vehicles and pedestrians if mobility devices are to be used without posing high risk to other road users (including the pedestrians) and obstructing the vehicular and pedestrian flow. I don't think the above quote from the press release implies existing bicycle lanes. I wish it did though! The way I read the rest of the press release it seems that riding on sidewalks is illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 24 minutes ago, John Eucist said: Quote: There may be a need to set up designated lanes for mobility devices which are separated from vehicles and pedestrians if mobility devices are to be used without posing high risk to other road users (including the pedestrians) and obstructing the vehicular and pedestrian flow. I don't think the above quote from the press release implies existing bicycle lanes. I wish it did though! The way I read the rest of the press release it seems that riding on sidewalks is illegal. You need to be aware he is not singularly talking about electric unicycles he is talking about electric bikes/bicycles and electric scooters too. With these government press releases what is not being said is just as important as what is being said. It is easy to read and assume that it is illegal to ride on the sidewalks but the Secretary for Transport went to great lengths not to say outright that it is legal, nor does he say they are illegal. All that he does say is that they are not suitable for sidewalks as they have a high risk of causing injury to the user and / or pedestrians. Then he goes on that law enforcement will judge each circumstance in relation to Offenses Ordinance (Cap 228). Which is basically regarding nuisances and causing danger to others. "Many pavements are rather narrow with lots of street facilities and various activities taking place. Using mobility devices on pavements will pose high risks to the users and other pedestrians and therefore they are also not suitable for use on pavements." Personally if sidewalks are too crowded I jump off my EU and push it anyway. Don't think its worth the energy I spend having to weave through people. As no mention was done for bicycle lanes I'll just keep using them as its not a road or sidewalk. If you live in Hong Kong and what you read into this press release as being illegal to use one sidewalks then go with your gut feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted February 10, 2016 Author Share Posted February 10, 2016 So the other day I was riding my EU. This is after the "Electric mobility devices are Illegal to use on roads announcement" here in Hong Kong. Rode past 2 police officers on a bicycle lane who clearly saw me and remained engaged in their conversation and provided no reaction to me riding. 100m down the lane another police officer stopped me and said that the EU was Illegal to use in Hong Kong. His partner remained silent as I was speaking to him. After one minute of me quizzing him about the legality of the unit he said "As its Chinese new year I will let you off this time". I said "How am I going to get home if I can't ride as I have a long way to go". He then said in a lowered voice "I'll turn this way and pretend not to see you. So you can ride away." I was thinking wow... he might as well not have stopped me. Didn't even ask for my ID as is the standard police practice. I think he knew that there isn't really much he can officially do as riding an EU is still very much in the grey area with the law. Even more so because of the single wheel. I believe he felt obliged to stop me as I was riding in a direct path towards him and there where members of the public around and he stopped me to avoid criticism of his duty in their eyes. As of writing this post I have been stopped by the police 4 times now in the period of 11 months and I have only been given verbal warnings. Two regarding the EU being illegal to use in Hong Kong and two regarding that I shouldn't ride on crowded sidewalks... I'm still here riding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuts Posted April 17, 2016 Author Share Posted April 17, 2016 The number for police stoppages grows slowly. I have now revised my responses to the following. Free for anyone to use. Police - "You can't ride these in Hong Kong" Me - "Government says not on any vehicular road, any none road places is okay, providing I'm not endangering others" Police - "These are classed as vehicles. So you can't use bicycle lanes" Me - "Bicycles are officially classed as vehicles too, so are they not allowed to use these either?" Police - "Bicycle lanes are also classed as vehicular roads." Me - "Pedestrians walk along bicycle lanes and joggers run on them too. Shouldn't they be arrested for that?" Police - "As these have a motor in them they are classed as vehicles by law." Me - "I agree, but the law doesn't recognize a vehicle as only having one wheel." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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