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GUILTY! (jay walking court summons )

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  1. #51

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    My wife and I got stopped for it once, but we got let off after a bit of apologising.

    Funny thing is we have been busy telling our daughter (3) to only cross on a green man, then one day she said "but if there are no cars coming, you can cross when it is red." Turns out that was the priceless advice of my mother in law

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  2. #52

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    The consequences of jaywalking can sometimes hit hard.




    P.S. Apparently the woman had some broken bones but is on the mend.


  3. #53

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    It does surprise me that Jaywalking isn't at the very least an on the spot fine in the UK, because it sure as heck is in Melbourne's CBD. I got let off once, by a cop in Swanston street,for jay walking as I got off a tram back in 1991 and it was an on the spot fine of $75.00AUS had he issued it.

    As to the helpers dilemma, I would have gone down to the court with helper in tow and tried to sort it all out, paid whatever fine and not dock her pay, as that's just being downright miserly. Sure it might have been a bit of a PITA but not a big enough deal to get all bent out of shape about.

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  4. #54

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    Quote Originally Posted by iliketurtles:
    Watercooler, please hit your hard on for the UK with a big book.

    I'm not trying to impose any Britishness on Hong Kong. The simple fact is that the HK legal system (including its criminal justice system) was modelled on the UK system. I would have expected that originally, jaywalking wasn't a criminal offence. I'm just interested to know why/when the divergence from the UK happened.
    I suppose different places means different traffic conditions and hence modification and change to original rules to suit the new location.

    Getting back to my other point, how did the OP's maid got caught? Clearly she wasn't paying attention when she crossed the road. But usually the police are not that hard to spot, so unless you are in a hurry, the maid must have been pretty negligent to miss the cops.

  5. #55

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    Quote Originally Posted by jgl:
    Google showed this as a first hit for my search:

    http://www.clic.org.hk/en/topics/com...ns/Jaywalking/

    Unfortunately I have no idea when the relevant regulations came into effect. I guess that HK would have started off with a lot of UK-derived road regulations but that there would have been a lot of tinkering over the last fifty or so years.

    A cynical stab at 'why' would be that drivers are much higher on the pecking order here than in the UK, which can be seen in the design of streets, which are heavily biased against pedestrians with their metal barriers and highly inconvenient timing of crossing signals.

    I believe that jaywalking is also an offence in Australia, which would also be British-derived for it's road regs.

    My take on jaywalking is that if you're alert enough to cross safely, you should be alert enough to do a quick scan for cops. If you get caught, then it's reasonable to pay the fine.
    Interesting that the thing you linked refers only to traffic lights. My understanding (admittedly limited) of "jay walking" in the USA is crossing any road not at a crossing. So in HK is it only an offence to cross the road against the lights, or are you OK if you are crossing a little way down the street from the lights?

    I must admit, I do this (both at lights and down the street) ALL the time. I prefer to take responsibility for my own actions than be molly-coddled by society into crossing at lights. But after this thread I shall look out more carefully for policemen! (At least I'm not glued to my phone).

  6. #56

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    Interesting summary here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking

    Jaywalking fines are a bargain in New Zealand.

    The only really positive reason I can see for jaywalking being an offence is that whilst you may be crossing illegally but with awareness of your surroundings, you can be followed by clueless muppets who assume that because someone is crossing, it must be safe for them to do so. E.g. people who are staring down at their phones and see, in their peripheral vision, the person in front of them start to cross the street.

    I've been on both sides of this situation myself. Once experiencing it from the clueless muppet perspective, you quickly learn not to use peripheral vision of other pedestrians as a crossing signal.

    Last edited by jgl; 02-04-2014 at 04:01 PM.

  7. #57

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    It is interesting that so many people are soft on the maid.

    Ignoring the fact that Scramber has already highlighted she's incompetent at looking after his children, why would anyone pay the fine of an employee caught breaking the law and be lenient in allowing them time off to attend court?

    Is it because we all jay-walk all the time and feel sympathy for someone "caught out" in practise? That is, would you all feel the same way if the charge was assault or shop-lifting or something you generally don't do yourselves?

    Is it because you believe that all maids in HK are badly treated and so think that they deserve to not have to face the consequences of law-breaking? The mere fact that Scrambler was on here asking highlights to me that he does not mistreat his DH (the reverse appears to be true in fact!).

    It's interesting. Not clear to me if it's the 1) jay walking offence or 2) the fact it's a DH or 3) something else which provokes the reaction.

    Certainly if a member of my staff had to go to court for an offence I'd expect them to do it in their own time and pay their own fines. On the other hand, one just said they got called for jury duty, which is different. That is something companies should allow time off for, imho.


  8. #58

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    My friend was caught jaywalking under a pedestrian bridge in Tsing Yi she was fined 300$, sent the guilty plea in the post ,wrote nothing to explain...

    Sent from my HTC One mini using GeoClicks mobile app


  9. #59

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    I'm guessing that the reason for sympathy is that most people have not been following Scrambler's ongoing soap opera saga. Only thought it was a couple of people though.


  10. #60

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    No sympathy from me for either scrambler's maid or jaywalking. I'm happy to be a jaywalker (I like thinking for myself!) but if I get caught, I'm responsible for the consequences.

    As for the maid, I've been following the scramber-maid "mini-series" and I was pretty shocked that the helper was still working for him. After she quit, I'd have never let her back but then I'd have fired her ass a long time ago if I had a hint of worry that she wasn't doing what she was asked to with the twins.


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