Experts have estimated that improvements to the safety of roads can reduce the fatality rates by as much as 43%, depending on the amount of money invested.  The Council firmly believes that by developing safer roads, road accidents and their consequences will be greatly reduced.  Road improvement measures are designed to prevent traffic accidents and to reduce the consequences of serious crashes by reviewing locations where accidents occur.

Corrective Work

In 2009, the Transport Department investigated about 100 traffic accident blacksites with a view to formulating suitable traffic engineering and management improvement proposals to enhance road safety for both motorists and pedestrians. The number of traffic accident blacksites has been reduced from 140 in 1994 to 52 by the end of 2009.

Engineering Measures

To enhance road safety, Highways Department and Transport Department have been working closely with Hong Kong Police Force and Fire Services Department to replace conventional tubular crash gates at selected emergency openings at central dividers with removable concrete barriers (RCBs) or 8m movable steel barriers (8m MSBs).  This will prevent errant vehicles from straying onto opposite carriageways and causing traffic accidents.

RCBs are for use as contingency openings for traffic diversion in major incidents.  They consist of a series of precast concrete units which can be removed within an hour by lifting plant to facilitate diversion of traffic.

8m MSBs are for use at emergency openings reserved for swift passage of emergency vehicles.  They consist of robust, movable and transition units which can be quickly opened up by emergency crews.

The containment capabilities of RCB and 8m MSB are comparable to conventional barriers.  Up to 2009, Highways Department has installed twelve sets of RCBs and eleven 8m MSBs to replace tubular crash gates, and closed 12 emergency openings with conventional concrete barriers.

There, however, are emergency openings serving the dual purposes of traffic diversion and swift passage for emergency vehicles, for which, an opening created by an 8m MSB is not sufficiently long for diversion of traffic and the time required to remove an RCB can be too long in emergency situations.  In that context, Highways Department has commissioned a study on the use of 16m MSB and a pilot 16m MSB was installed on the North Lantau Highway in 2009.

Vehicle Testing

All vehicles to be registered in Hong Kong are required to go through type approval and pre-registration examination to ensure that they meet the requirements as stipulated in the Road Traffic Ordinance.  All commercial vehicles including goods vehicles, buses, light buses, taxis and trailers are required to undergo a pre-registration examination and roadworthiness examination every year.  All private cars aged six years old are required to pass an examination annually.  Vehicle owners shall properly maintain their vehicles to ensure their roadworthiness.

In 2009, the Transport Department continued to update the local vehicle regulations such as the lighting regulations, brake regulations and door regulations, etc.