Industry calls for review of left-hand drive car registration in Hong Kong amid cross-border scheme

With the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles scheme commenced, industry leaders are calling for a review of the city's registration of left-hand drive cars for its left-hand traffic rules.

Allow left-hand drive cars with conditions

Ringo Lee Yiu-pui, honorary life president of the Hong Kong, China Automobile Association, proposed conditionally allowing left-hand drive registrations, suggesting Macau as a model to examine.

As cross-border traffic grows, Lee argues it is time to offer more choices to car owners while prioritising road safety. He recognised potential difficulties, such as blind spots and adaptation challenges during turns and lane changes on Hong Kong's roads.

Lee therefore advocated a phased rollout, initially restricting left-hand drive vehicles to designated zones or specific uses before evaluating wider implementation.

Begin with commercial vehicles

Ben Chan Han-pan, a lawmaker from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, noted strong public interest in buying left-hand drive cars.

Chan recalled that when he proposed a review last year, the government cited potential visibility risks for drivers as a reason for not relaxing vehicle registration rules. However, Chan believes a gradual approach is viable due to the growing digitalization and intelligence of the city's traffic system.

He further cited the United Kingdom as an example, where left-handed drive vehicles are allowed and have long co-existed with traffic from France.

Chan suggested starting with works vehicles as many of which lack right-hand drive versions in the mainland thus could not be imported to Hong Kong.

In contrast, incoming Roundtable lawmaker Mark Chong Ho-fung voiced caution about adopting left-hand drive cars in a city built for right-hand driving. He warned that widespread use could impair driver visibility and require expensive infrastructure modifications, which he deems unwarranted now.

Permits issued case-by-case: TD

The Transport Department responded that Hong Kong follows left-hand traffic rules in its road design, but issues permits for left-hand drive vehicles case-by-case under the Road Traffic Ordinance, imposing suitable conditions to maintain road safety.