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| - Analysis: Dirty vehicles may be fined in Hong Kong but cityscape is not a reason
Social media has been abuzz with a claim that Hong Kong imposes fines on excessively dirty vehicles to preserve city aesthetics for some time.
In a video sketch on Douyin, for example, a popular influencer with 14 million followers, 郭嘉峰 (Guo Jiafeng), played a character who said vehicles in Hong Kong can be fined for being excessively dirty because it “affects the city’s appearance” ( “香港的車如果太髒的話就會被罰影響市容” in Chinese) and that his father was fined for violating this traffic rule.
This video was posted on Jan. 24 and has gained 690,000 likes, 59,000 shares, and 29,000 saves as of this writing.
This is not the first time claims about fines regarding vehicle dirtiness surfaced online. Over the past decade, we have seen various iterations of the same claim repeatedly shared on Chinese social media.
On popular platforms like Sohu (搜狐), NetEase (網易), PPFocus (人人焦點), autoHome (汽車之家) and Toutiao (每日頭條), content about traffic rules and fines concerning the city’s cleanliness can be easily found.
They often say vehicle owners are “fined by traffic police (被交警罰款)” because their cars are “too dirty (太髒),” and “affecting the city’s appearance (影響市容),” which is allegedly “explicitly prohibited (明令禁止)”.
Some other videos are purportedly made to “educate” the public about this specific “regulation” in Hong Kong, although none of them specifies exactly what law prohibits dirty vehicles on the road to maintain the cityscape.
Annie Lab reached out to the Transport Department and asked about relevant regulations.
In the email reply, the spokesperson mentioned Regulation 29 of the Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374A). This regulation requires vehicles with windscreens, excluding motorcycles, invalid carriages, or trailers, to have efficient automatic windscreen wipers and washers to clear windscreens of mud or similar deposits. The email from the authority also said an adequate view of the road must be maintained for safety reasons.
In our research, we also found other existing traffic laws that could potentially penalize vehicles due to their dirtiness under certain circumstances, but none of them concerns the city’s beauty. These regulations fall into two main categories:
- Provisions related to Vehicle Construction and Operation: Laws under this category are primarily concerned with the technical and operational aspects of a vehicle (the windshield, headlights, license plates, reflectors, etc). While they do not directly address the cleanliness of the vehicle’s exterior, they are in place to ensure that the vehicle is in a safe and proper condition for road use.
- Provisions related to vehicular emission and littering: Laws under this category penalize actions potentially polluting the environment or adversely affecting others. This could include situations where a vehicle’s condition—such as shedding debris or dirt—could pose a risk to the environment or public safety.
For instance, the Cap. 311R Air Pollution Control (Construction Dust) Regulation clearly states that vehicles used in construction sites “shall be washed to remove any dusty materials from its body and wheels.”
It also states that vehicles leaving the construction site “shall be covered entirely by clean impervious sheeting to ensure that the dusty materials do not leak from the vehicle.”
Another similar provision is regarding the visibility of registration marks (Cap. 374E Article 8), ensuring license plates remain unobscured and easily readable. The Cap. 374A Article 28 mandates the use of safety glass for windscreens and windows, prioritizing transparency to not “obscure the view of the interior of the motor vehicle.”
Additionally, the condition and maintenance of front lamps are emphasized in the Cap. 374A Article 89, requiring them to be kept in a “clean and efficient” state to aid in nighttime visibility and overall road safety.
Annie Lab also examined Cap. 237 Fixed Penalty (Traffic Contraventions) Ordinance and Cap. 240 Fixed Penalty (Criminal Proceedings) Ordinance, which authorizes police officers and traffic wardens to issue fixed-penalty tickets for traffic contraventions.
However, neither contravention concerns the vehicle’s cleanliness. Cap. 237 covers violations mostly related to illegal parking and Cap. 240 covers traffic offences such as speeding, overloading and picking up passengers in restricted areas.
We compiled a list of existing legal provisions related to vehicle cleanliness in Hong Kong.
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