The government has moved to allay fears that city streets were about to become even more congested with cars from across the border.

A government statement says only Hong Kong cars will be granted cross-border access in a scheme set to launch in March. People had been crowding onto Facebook pages to express fears of a deluge of cars from across the border once the program is launched.

Governments of Hong Kong and Guangdong province have agreed to grant ad-hoc quotas for cross-boundary private cars, hoping to boost the flow of visitors and stimulate economies. The first phase of a trial will launch in March. Only cars registered in Hong Kong will be eligible for that phase.

Concerns over the scheme surged on Wednesday with several Facebook pages and events. Over 23,000 members signed on for an event named as "strong objection of self-drive tourists destroying Hong Kong in March".

Driving attitudes of drivers on the mainland were questioned. Others pointed to differences in insurance requirements, law enforcement challenges and road capacity.

A spokeswoman from the Transport and Housing Bureau stressed that cars from the mainland will not enter the picture until the second phase of the plan. Details and dates of phase two are still under discussion among experts from both sides. Road capacity will be weighed to determine quotas, which will only be granted to drivers with good records of compliance with the law.

Details for the launch in March will be announced "very shortly", but the spokesperson declined to confirm if it would be "as soon as next week" as one press report suggested.

Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, president of the Hong Kong Law Society, said the law enforcement issue also applies to inbound tourists and the Facebook cause was simply emotional. He said he believed the scheme, which will have a limited scale, will not add appreciably to traffic problems in Hong Kong, given that tens of thousands of cars are already crossing the border every day.

The Hong Kong Land Rover Club has organized regular self-drive tours to the mainland and its vice-president, Joey Yu kwong-cheung, believes drivers from the mainland will adjust in line with Hong Kong customs if they are granted access.

He, however, warned Hong Kong drivers may be caught off guard on mainland roads, saying there are unpredictable challenges ahead for Hong Kong motorists driving on mainland roads.

Yu agreed mainland drivers are different. "They could regard us as troublesome and inefficient. They blame us for not bypassing jams by going onto the road shoulders." Hong Kong drivers, as Yu pointed out, are often keen to keep shoulders clear for emergencies.

While turnabouts can confuse right-handed drivers, they may also encounter fabricated accidents. He doubted if education could prepare Hong Kong drivers for all scenarios. "They are excited to learn about driving on the mainland. But they forget about what to do when confronted by incidents."

kahon@chinadailyhk.com

China Daily

(HK Edition 02/03/2012 page1)