"Waiting will be prosecuted" sign serves information purpose

In response to a press report today (November 17) about "Waiting will be prosecuted" signs, a government spokesman made the following statement:

Regulation 3 of the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) Regulations empowers the Commissioner for Transport (C for T) to erect or place traffic signs on or near any road. These include prescribed traffic signs and non-prescribed traffic signs.

For a prescribed traffic sign, its meaning shall be in accordance with its content and the note relating to the Figure of that sign in Schedules 1, 3 and 4 of the relevant regulation. Prescribed traffic signs will express all messages with meanings of prohibitions and instructions, as they are legally binding. The Environment, Transport and Works Bureau will publish gazette notices on any new prescribed traffic signs. These gazetted signs will only be implemented upon obtaining approval from the Legislative Council.

When a sign is of non-prescribed type, its size, colour and category may be fixed if the Commissioner for Transport considers appropriate.

The "Waiting will be prosecuted" signs are non-prescribed signs. They are displayed together with the yellow hatched road markings and are usually installed at lay-bys to remind motorists no waiting is allowed. The signs are placed for information purposes to remind motorists that parking is prohibited in the area in question. Police will prosecute offenders without advance warning.

Police will in general prosecute offenders according to Sections 4 or 7(1) of Fixed Penalty (Traffic Contraventions) Ordinance (Cap.237). Offenders of these two sections will be subject to a fixed penalty of $320.

The Transport Department will consult the departments concerned to determine that the sign is fulfilling its purpose of reminding motorists that no parking is allowed.

The "Waiting will be prosecuted" signs were first installed in the New Territories on a trial basis at end-1999; in mid-2000 they were extended to lay-bys throughout the SAR where serious illegal parking problems existed.

Ends/Monday, November 17, 2003