Hong Kong mulls 2-device cap on vehicle dashboards

Hong Kong drivers will be slapped with a fine of up to HK$2,000 if they place more than two phones on the dashboards of their vehicles - the city’s latest push to improve traffic safety.

This came as the Transport Department is planning to impose new law which only allows drivers to place no more than 2 mobile devices on their dashboard while driving, as well as limiting the maximum diagonal length of screens to be fixed on dashboards at 18cm.

The plan also came amid safety concerns regarding taxi drivers placing a significant amount of mobile devices on their dashboards to receive ride requests from passengers.

Currently, the Road Traffic Ordinance only penalizes motorists for speaking on the phone while driving. Offenders face a maximum fine of HK$2,000.

The new law, which introduced a cap on the number of dashboard phones, proposed a HK$450 fixed penalty ticket from police for the violations, and a maximum fine of HK$2,000 for more serious cases heard in court.

Speaking on a radio program, Commissioner for Transport Rosanna Law Shuk-pui noted that the Taxi Industry supports the plan and points out that in the taxi license written test, all taxi drivers are tested on local routes and drivers who passed this test should be able to recognize most of the local routes but only use the mobile device as an aid.

Commenting on Taxi driver’s "mobile phone dashboards”, Law said the driver’s sight is already blocked after they placed two 10-inch mobile devices on their dashboard.

She recommended taxi drivers who need to use a mobile device while driving to try using voice-activated devices which can decrease the amount of contact with the screen physically.