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The lawmaking process is reactionary, not proactive, and that is the core of the problem. It took them five years after the introduction of EVs to get around to addressing the issue of EVs on expressways. Still no child restraint laws on the books.
P.S. Rear view reflective mirrors are compulsory - cameras used as a replacement are currently illegal.
As far as I know, the Model X will have mirrors that clip onto the side where the cameras are located. Hence it is up to the driver whether they will remove them or not, and then break the (antiquated) law. The question then remains whether TD will approve a car where the mirrors can be removed and refitted that easily.
I think the Model X should be good for the third row seats, even in Hong Kong. With another delay on the Model X, one wonders what would come first: The end of EV FRT exemption, or the availability of the Model X. Even more so for the Model III. I expect some kind of cap on the FRT exemption from April 2017 - by that time there would possibly be more than 10,000 Model S on the roads of Hong Kong, and arguments have already been made about exempting tax on a luxury car like that (despite being 0-emission).
In any case, I agree totally that the law is silly. Camera mirrors - as long as they present an equivalent safety case - should be allowed alongside mirrors. As well as third row seats in the Model S, while proven to be a very safe place in the car, if not the safest. The same for the autopilot: See how TD apparently is dragging their feet and stalling the Model S new version, for a car which is introducing unheard new levels of road safety.
Next up is the ban on electric bikes, solar PV panels and wind turbines - access to the grid for renewables. Speaking with two tongues, one can wonder if the government are serious about clean air initiatives, or just ticking boxes and making PR stunts.
I found from renting a Model S in Germany that the navigation system used is in fact "Navigon". Navigon is available in most markets, like North America, Europe, Australia etc, but not in Hong Kong. My guess is that this is the reason TM said that they were testing which system to use in Hong Kong (in other words, they couldn't get Navigon, so they had too look for an alternative). TO my knowledge, it is being tested at the moment in HK by TM engineering. Whether the actual release will be next month, who knows?
Write to TM HK and ask if they need any beta testers - I would be happy to test it, and really hope it is better than Waze and Google.
I personally think it is also illegal to use the Internet Browser on your phone installed in a dashboard mount.
The mobile phone legislation (http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_pdf.nsf/6799165D2FEE3FA94825755E0033E532/600E639993377DF6482575EE0077C931/$FILE/CAP_374G_e_b5.pdf regulation 42(g)) just covers a mobile phone in your hand.
However, the visual display unit legislation (http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_pdf.nsf/4f0db701c6c25d4a4825755c00352e35/EA1DE62EB87E5C3D482575EE00771BD5/$FILE/CAP_374A_e_b5.pdf section 37) is much broader and covers the installation of visual display units. That is the legislation that is stopping Tesla from enabling the browser.
The question is are mobile phones, in handsfree mounts, visual display units.
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Moderator's Note: Some posts moved here, as threads merged.
If mobile phones in handfree mounts are within scope, it clearly is not being enforced. Hopefully, somebody in the government can understand how archaic the law is. While I understand that surfing the net or watching videos while driving is a distraction, however, the same thing can be said of reading newspaper, shaving or doing other things while driving.
Amending the law such that the internet browser is only usable when the vehicle is stationery would be a good start.
Amending the law such that the internet browser is only usable when the vehicle is stationery would be a good start.
Yeah. It is interesting how the law on mobile usage is (a) while the vehicle is in motion, and (b) against holding the phone (as opposed to touching it). They don't seem to address the distraction issue at all - but rather focus on the one-handed driving issue - which seems rather short sighted. Quite literally 'hands free'.
I can't find anything specific against SMS texting while driving, so long as you don't hold the phone.
I think we are all agreed that the law is woefully inadequate in some places (e.g. child seats), and overly restrictive in others (reflective mirrors, seats, displays, telematics, etc). The question is how to change it? Looking at the history of revisions to those legislations I captioned, they seem few and far between. For something where the technology changes so rapidly, the legislation is hardly touched.
I can't find anything specific against SMS texting while driving, so long as you don't hold the phone.
I think we are all agreed that the law is woefully inadequate in some places (e.g. child seats), and overly restrictive in others (reflective mirrors, seats, displays, telematics, etc). The question is how to change it? Looking at the history of revisions to those legislations I captioned, they seem few and far between. For something where the technology changes so rapidly, the legislation is hardly touched.
I was chatting to a traffic cop in HK once about dash cams and such. Having the cam display too prominent can be illegal as it is a distraction. The conversation then went to GPS devices. Also technically illegal unless in a non distracting place.
Then he kind of said.. yeah its messed up... all a big grey area.
Then he kind of said.. yeah its messed up... all a big grey area.
When they first banned handheld phone call but allowed handfree operation, I had a question nobody seemed to be able to answered - if the concern was distraction while talking on the phone, then handfree should also be banned; and if it's because of one hand off the steering wheel, then shaving, holding a cup, eating snacks and sandwiches, or one hand on the other passenger's body part should also be banned.
I would ask him to cite the regulation it is violating. I see plenty of regulations for offences the result of distraction (driving without due care and attention, causing an accident, etc), but nothing against the act of distraction itself (other than that great regulation that it is the driver's responsibility to ensure his passenger doesn't grab the wheel and wrestle control away from him - go figure!).
Here's my citation for the permission:
Dashcams are explicitly permitted under cap 374A, regulation 37, 2(b).
Navigation is explicitly permitted under cap 374A, regulation 37, 2(c) and 2(d).
Features available in NA but still missing from RHD models
I started the thread to track what have appeared in Model S sold in Americas but are missing here. I took delivery of a P85D in August and my list is based on my car. If we all add on to the list, perhaps we can make a plea to TM to have those features retrofitted / air-pushed to our RHD cars.
1) LTE -- available to all cars produced for US market since May or even earlier, although my car definitely entered production after LTE appeared in Models in the US, it still only has 3G in it;
2) Self closing charging port -- it only opens itself when the supercharger plug approaches, but in the US, it can also close itself after the charging head is pulled out;
3) Closing all windows from remote -- this function is very basic to most ICE's, and exists for US model S owner, but strangely missing from RHD, it should be a simple software upgrade;
4) Internet browsing -- I can't find it on my touch screen, is it banned by regulations in HK?
PLEASE ADD ON....
I started the thread to track what have appeared in Model S sold in Americas but are missing here. I took delivery of a P85D in August and my list is based on my car. If we all add on to the list, perhaps we can make a plea to TM to have those features retrofitted / air-pushed to our RHD cars.
1) LTE -- available to all cars produced for US market since May or even earlier, although my car definitely entered production after LTE appeared in Models in the US, it still only has 3G in it;
2) Self closing charging port -- it only opens itself when the supercharger plug approaches, but in the US, it can also close itself after the charging head is pulled out;
3) Closing all windows from remote -- this function is very basic to most ICE's, and exists for US model S owner, but strangely missing from RHD, it should be a simple software upgrade;
4) Internet browsing -- I can't find it on my touch screen, is it banned by regulations in HK?
PLEASE ADD ON....
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