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Safety Through Education
The Council is assuming an increasingly important role in terms of public education on road safety, identifying focal points, initiating curriculum-based programmes and course tools and co-ordinating the work of other groups interested in or responsible for road safety.
This multi-agency approach is particularly effective in wide ranging community education initiatives involving District Councils, schools and centres for the elderly. Lectures held on our Road Safety Bus or in our Road Safety Town are provided by the Police to various organizations. They spread the three C concepts - Care, Concern and Commitment.
Youth Education
The Council's Road Safety Towns turn road safety education into a fun and engaging atmosphere for children and young people. The towns are managed by the Government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department and in 2008 they attracted more than 40,000 visitors of all ages. They are proving a favourite destination for kindergartens and primary schools as well as clubs, social groups and associations that serve elderly people. Open days featuring special events were held throughout the year to further promote the importance of road safety.
Hong Kong's four Road Safety Towns are located at:
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Pak Fuk Road Safety Town
Pak Fuk Road, North Point
Enquiries: 2565 5716 |
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Sau Mau Ping Road Safety Town
56 Sau Ming Road, Sau Mau Ping
Enquiries: 2379 1194 |
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Sha Tin Road Safety Park
1 Kong Pui Street, Sha Tin
Enquiries: 2637 6303 |
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Tuen Mun Road Safety Town
Wu Shan Recreation Playground, Tuen Mun
Enquiries: 2463 7597 |
Meanwhile, our Road Safety Bus, continues to inspire and educate students, residents on housing estates and children at youth centres. With its vibrant colours, simulated road environment and high-tech resources, it recorded more than 60,000 visits by members of the public in 2008, underscoring the valuable role it plays in road safety awareness and education.
To boost road safety awareness and good practice among children, it continues to reach and inspire young people through interactive educational activities. The Proficiency Badge Scheme for Youth is a Council initiative introduced five years ago. All primary school students who join the Road Safety Patrol have been invited to participate in activities such as Safe Cycling courses organised with the Hong Kong Cycling Association. From 2004, the Hong Kong Road safety patrol organised 91 training classes for more than 2,000 students from 35 schools.
School Liaison
Liaising with schools on road safety issues remains a cornerstone of our education work. In the school curriculum recommended by the Education Bureau, elements of road safety, such as safety regulations, the proper use of public transport and common causes of traffic accidents are incorporated in various Key Learning Areas or subjects. These curriculum areas include General Studies at primary level and Personal, Social and Humanities Education Key Learning Area as well as Physical Education Key Learning Area at secondary level. To support the promotion of road safety education in schools, teachers are provided with resource materials, such as educational television programmes. Teachers are also provided with teaching plans to enhance students' understanding of traffic regulations and the importance of obeying traffic rules. In addition, life-wide learning activities are organised to impart a sense of road safety among students. Ongoing curriculum reform is helping to reinforce these initiatives, giving students a positive set of values and instilling attitudes that provide a strong foundation for safe driving. Our objective is to encourage future generations to make road safety a life-long practice.
Lectures and seminars are integral to our education programmes across all age groups, from schools to centres for the elderly and community venues. We deliver information that is relevant to specific groups and audiences. For example, education programmes designed for new immigrants to Hong Kong aim to help people understand better local regulations and requirements.
Driver Education
Safe driving lies at the heart of any road safety campaign in Hong Kong. Driver Improvement Scheme, introduced by Transport Department in 2002, continues to promote a culture of road safety by providing a driving improvement course both for drivers who wish to improve their on-road practice voluntarily as well as for drivers who are ordered by the courts to attend an improvement course. Individuals who have incurred five or more driving offence points can be ordered by the court to attend this course.
Once all sessions and assignments are successfully completed, drivers receive a certificate and, when relevant, have their driving offence points reduced by three points. Offenders who have incurred 15 or more points on the date of completion, or completed a successful return-course within two years are not offered a deduction. As of December 2008, nearly 17,000 drivers attended the driving improvement course and found it to be a valuable experience. Encouragingly, 77 percent of participants did not incur any new driving offence points within six months of completing the course.
In order to further enhance road safety, people whose offences place them within the following categories will be required to attend a driving improvement course on a mandatory basis, with effect from 9 February 2009:
- Offenders who have been convicted of serious traffic offences , such as drink driving or dangerous driving;
- Repeated traffic offenders who have accumulated 10 or more driving offence points within two years. These drivers will be required to attend the course for every 10 driving offence points incurred.
Pedestrian Safety
In Hong Kong elderly pedestrians remain vulnerable to road accidents. The Council continues to focus many of its seminars, road safety messages and education programmes on this demographic group, emphasising proper road use. In many areas, young people have been enlisted to help the elderly cross roads safely.
Road safety tools for the general public tend to involve the use of mass media and the distribution of leaflets on city streets.
For further information on educational programmes and road safety initiatives, please visit:
http://www.roadsafety.gov.hk/eng/rs_camp/rs_camp.html
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