Looking Ahead

Road safety, in many ways, is a moving target. Road safety messages are constantly reinforced and once new concerns are identified, publicity and education campaigns are designed to encompass them.

Spreading the Safety Message

In view of recent public concern and the seriousness of accidents arising from drink driving incidents, the Council will launch a thematic campaign against drink driving. The campaign includes a pledging ceremony where individuals representing District Councils, the transport trades, the beer and wine industries and automobile associations as well as members of the public, will pledge not to drink and drive.

The anti-drink driving campaign will also be promoted by means of TV and radio Announcements of Public Interest and through billboard and banner advertising.

The second publicity campaign will focus on the importance of giving way to emergency vehicles, following an incident in which a police officer died on his way to attend an emergency call.   The new campaign focuses on messages telling the public when and how to give way to emergency vehicles appropriately.

The Council's website, accessible by schools, will be revamped with the latest news, statistics and teaching resources.  For the general public, the website also contains information relating to safe driving and road safety developments.

The Road Safety Council's vision: "Zero Accidents on the Road, Hong Kong's Goal" brings the community together in a common goal of achieving safety on the city's roads. The vision remains the centre of all Council's publicity and will remain as the symbol of our work throughout 2009 and 2010. MTV will be used to promote the road safety theme song over the coming year.

The Council's Annual Report detailing our activities throughout 2008 will be published along with a series of road safety bulletins on specific themes such as giving way to emergency vehicles, the proper use of seatbelts and code of conduct for bus passengers.  These bulletins will be distributed with the assistance of the Transport Department.

District Councils Involvement

The Council is proud of its collaborative efforts with the District Councils. In the coming years, road safety campaigns will continue to be jointly organised with District Councils. The focal points range from the safety of elderly pedestrians to cycling safety and road safety messages relevant to the districts involved.

The representative of the Road Safety Council will continue to regularly attend meetings of Traffic and Transport committees or related groups of each District Council, to introduce the work of the Council and to explore potential opportunities for future co-operation. These courtesy visits, often undertaken with representatives from the Police and the Transport Department, will focus primarily on road safety activities.

Educating Target Groups

The Transport Department will disseminate road safety messages to professional drivers through conferences and ad hoc seminars with the public transport trades. In addition, the Police will hold seminars and distribute publicity pamphlets and undertake street education activities at major traffic black spots, in public car parks and at boundary control points to reach individual drivers.

As young people are the target audience, the Council, in collaboration with the Road Safety Association, will continue its Road Safety Proficiency Badges Scheme for Youth to arouse their interest in road safety.  The scheme awards young people with proficiency badges in recognition of their road safety knowledge.  Cycling courses, visits to Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre of Transport Department, and Family Day Camps are also part of the community youth awareness programme.

The Education Bureau will continue to use the school curriculum as a vehicle to promote road safety. Supplementary tools will include television programmes and relevant teaching materials focusing on proper road use attitudes. Statistics identify children and the elderly as groups most vulnerable to traffic accidents. Service units of the Social Welfare Department and non-governmental agencies will continue to include road safety messages in their publicity programmes. The department will continue to help distribute the road safety bulletin and other printed material to these groups.