Private Cars Now Become Vehicles Of Protests

In what seems to be a new protest tactics, some people used private vehicles on Wednesday to block some key roads in Admiralty, with the drivers often playing a cat and mouse game with the police.

At least half a dozen cars blocked traffic on the Wan Chai-bound lanes of Queensway for around 20 minutes soon after 10.30am, following online calls from opponents of the extradition bill to block roads in the area.

Traffic was brought to a complete standstill.

RTHK spoke to several drivers who stopped their cars at a slight angle in the middle of the road and asked them what they were doing. One said, "I don't know what's happening."

"The other cars aren't moving, so I dare not move," said another driver. Yet another claimed all the cars just wanted to turn left.

Some of the cars that left blocking traffic were empty as the drivers disappeared.

Several traffic police officers were on the scene but took no action against the drivers who remained.

At around 10.40am, several people wearing masks suddenly ran back to their cars and drove away, allowing traffic flow to resume.

Just half an hour later, a similar scene played out on the westbound lanes, with cars stopping in the middle of the road to halt traffic.

People on social media have been urging people to flood the Admiralty area with traffic, suggesting that people can drive very slowly, or have vehicular breakdowns.

At around 11.30am, protesters also sprinted onto the eastbound lanes of Queensway from behind Lippo Centre and started building barricades, blocking all three lanes.

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