Road Safety Council Annual Report 2009

Over the past years, the Council has strengthened existing publicity tools and explored new platforms to highlight prioritised road safety issues and to sustain general road safety messages.

In 2009, in view of growing public concern and the serious consequences of drink driving related traffic accidents, we launched a 10-month territory-wide '3C Responsible Drivers' campaign with a series of multi-media programmes to promote the safe driving principles of 'Care', 'Concern' and 'Commitment'. Prominent community leaders supported and pledged to the motto: 'If you drink, don't drive!'

From flyover banners in areas with high traffic volume to parking meter stickers advertising the slogan 'If you drink, don't drive!', the Council strived to deliver the anti-drink driving message to drivers and other road users. The same message was reinforced ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays with a badly deformed vehicle displayed at the entrance of the Cross Harbour Tunnel. This served as a stark reminder of the grave consequences of drink driving.

The number of accidents involving drink driving dropped by 59% from 701 cases in 2008 to 287 cases in 2009. This indicates awareness is increasing. Drivers are responding to our anti-drink driving publicity campaigns and the random breath tests conducted by the Hong Kong Police on the roads.

The '2009 Road Safety Launching Ceremony cum Responsible Drivers Pledging Ceremony' was held in September 2009 at Citywalk, Tsuen Wan. Officiated by the Council's Chairman, Mr YAM Tat-wing, and other prominent guests, the ceremony involved over 800 participants from the general public and the transport trade. All participants pledged at the ceremony to become '3C Responsible Drivers' and to adhere to the principle of 'If you drink, don't drive'.

During his opening speech, Mr YAM praised and thanked various sectors for their partnership in promoting road safety in Hong Kong. By joining as a '3C Responsible Driver', drivers not only need to adopt the 3C safe driving principles of 'Care', 'Concern' and 'Commitment', they also need to observe the road safety rules and help to spread the idea of road safety to every household towards achieving the vision: 'Zero Accidents on the Road, Hong Kong's Goal'.

Publicity activities throughout the year continued to address the safety of elderly pedestrians. The Council worked closely with District Councils to conduct education and publicity campaigns in areas with a higher elderly population or traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians. Much of this work focused on pedestrian education and with the assistance of Elderly Road Safety Ambassadors, our elderly pedestrians were reminded to use proper crossing facilities, namely traffic light controlled areas, zebra crossings, pedestrian flyovers and pedestrian subways.

Elderly Road Safety Bus Parades were held in Sham Shui Po and Western districts in March and October respectively with over 5,000 leaflets and souvenirs distributed to the elderly pedestrians. The Council's Road Safety Ambassador, renowned actress TSE Suet-sum, appealed to the elderly people to 'Love Yourself, Love Your Family, Be a Smart Pedestrian'.

The safety of cyclists, both recreational and occupational cyclists, continues to be a road safety concern. Pamphlets on safe cycling highlighting traffic regulations, the responsibility of cyclists on roads and best practices in relation to the use of cycling-tracks were widely distributed to cyclists, pedestrians and persons who employed cyclists for delivery work in both rural and urban areas. The Council and the Tai Po District Council jointly organized a successful 'Summer Safe Cycling Campaign' in July. Tai Po has a large population of cyclists and the campaign focused on educating people on safe cycling during the day and at night as well as disseminating safe cycling tips on accident prevention.

To convey the road safety message to a broader spectrum of the population, buses carrying our road safety vision and messages are widely seen around Hong Kong. Souvenirs displaying the Council's logos, vision and road safety slogans were produced and distributed to as many members of the public as possible.

The Government's Announcements in the Public Interest (API) which are broadcast by the electronic media in Hong Kong are regarded by the Council as a valuable tool for road safety promotion. In 2009, three important APIs were produced. Following a fatal traffic accident in Lok Ma Chau in January 2009, a new API on anti-drink driving was published. This API, which depicted vividly the tragic consequences of drink driving, has conveyed successfully a strong message. Not only the drivers, but all citizens acknowledged our important message: 'If you drink, don't drive!'. In addition, APIs were also published on 'Random Breath Testing' to combat drink driving and on reminding the road users of their legal obligation to give way to emergency vehicles on the road.

The Council has also established more frequent and constructive interactions with the younger generation through various social media forums. In September 2009, new ground was broken with extensive use of the Internet and Facebook to launch the '3C Responsible Drivers Campaign' which encouraged drivers to adopt the '3C Driving Principles'. By the end of 2009, more than 1,000 people had registered to become '3C Responsible Drivers' on the Facebook and on www.3cdrivers.hk.

Our website www.roadsafety.gov.hk recorded an average of 2,600 visits daily last year. The website which contains a range of road safety features and provides on-line access to all Council publications with useful statistics and hyperlinks aims to effectively disseminate road safety information to the general public.

The Council will continue to explore the use of all media avenues in order to match our messages to specific audiences.

For further information about road safety publicity and campaigns, please click here.