Summary of Discussion 146th Road Safety Council Meeting held at 1000 hours on Wednesday 16 May 2012

Traffic Accident Situation

Comparing the 1st Quarters of 2012 and 2011:

 The number of fatalities was 32, a decrease of 3%.

 The number of serious casualties was 470, a decrease of 14.2%.

 The top five driver contributory factors of accidents were: Driving inattentively; Driving too close to vehicle in front; Lost control of vehicle; Careless lane changing; and, Careless cycling.

 The major contributory factors for accidents involving pedestrians were ‘crossing road heedless of traffic’ and ‘inattentiveness’ whilst for passengers they were ‘lost balance in vehicles’ and ‘lost balance/ fall down when boarding/alighting vehicle’.

Traffic Enforcement Situation

Comparing the 1st Quarters of 2012 and 2011:

 The total number of moving offences committed by drivers increased by 8%.

 Increased enforcement was taken against the following offences:

Cycling offence; Traffic signal offence; and, Driver moving offence.

 Prosecutions against pedestrians showed a decrease of 10%.

 Stringent enforcement action would continue to be maintained, targeting offences which were causes or likely causes of traffic accidents.

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Road Safety Research Committee (RSRC) Report

(a) Driving Licence Issued to Drivers Aged 70 and Above  The present law allowed a driver aged 70 and above to apply for either a 1-year or a 3-year driving licence on condition that his suitability to drive was certified by a medical practitioner. Transport Department would analyse traffic accidents involving this age group and pay special attention to the validity period of their driving licences.

(b) Spiral Marking Roundabout  Sai Kung District Council supported the implementation of the spiral marking roundabouts in Tseung Kwan O area  Transport Department would promote the spiral marking and collect views from the public.

(c) Duration of the Flashing Green Signal for Pedestrian Traffic Lights  Transport Department would embark on a pilot scheme to study a number of pedestrian crossings where the flashing time of signal would be reduced gradually, taking into account the number of pedestrians overcrowding at the central refuge.

Road Safety Campaign Committee (RSCC) Report

(a) Safe Cycling Publicity  With the support of District Councils and the Road Safety Patrol, the Road Safety Council and the Police would conduct an event on cycling safety at the newly opened Wong Tai Sin Cycling Park in summer 2012, followed by a series of programs targeting juveniles.  A letter would be sent to all schools in to promote using the online resources of the RSC in educating their students on road safety.

(b) Elderly Pedestrian Safety  An elderly pedestrian safety campaign was conducted jointly with Council and Road Safety Patrol on 2012-05-02 at Yuen Long Theatre.  The Radio APIs on elderly pedestrian safety would be reproduced as a 3-minute drama for broadcast in RTHK Channel 5.

(c) Anti-drug Driving  Two new anti-drug driving TV APIs had been on air since 2012-03-01.  Anti-drug driving stickers had been mounted on 600 parking meters throughout the territory for 12 months since March 2012.

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(d) RTHK Radio API  Radio APIs on various road safety themes, would be broadcast at RTHK Channel 1,2 and 5 between 2012-05-01 and 2013-04-30.