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It gives me great pleasure as Chairman of the Road Safety Council (the Council) to present its Annual Report for 2014.
The Council came to its 41st Anniversary this year. Despite the continued increase in the number of licensed vehicles on the road, the number of fatalities involved in traffic accidents has fallen to 100, the lowest figure since 1954. Traffic accidents involving drink driving continued to decrease substantially from 680 cases in 2008 to 221 (-68%) cases in 2014.
Based on the causation factors of traffic accidents, an added road safety priority of ‘Driving Attentively’ was recommended on top of the current four, namely ‘Anti-Drug Driving’, ‘Anti-Drink Driving’, ‘Cycling Safety’ and ‘Elderly Pedestrian Safety’.
Drug driving related traffic accidents appeared to have been contained in 2014, much as a result of our strategic efforts. During the year the Council has continued to focus on the problem using a three-pronged strategy - education, publicity and law enforcement. Promotional banners in major routes and bus body advertisements were deployed to remind road users of the potentially tragic consequences of drug driving. In December 2014, an ‘Anti-3D (Anti-Drink Driving, Anti-Drug Driving and Driving Attentively) Kick Off Ceremony’ was held in Wan Chai followed by a leaflet distribution in the nearby entertainment and bar area to further reinforce the notion of Anti-Drink Driving. The event received significant media coverage.
In 2014, the Council’s unreserved efforts to publicise and educate road users not to drive after drinking made encouraging progress with a year-on-year drop in the number of drink driving related traffic accidents. Stressing the serious consequences of drink driving, promotional banners and stickers, Announcement in the Public Interest (API) and social media were found to be highly effective means to promote the message of ‘If you drink, don’t drive’. Moreover, our campaigns of distributing promotional leaflets in entertainment and bar areas during the World Cup period in June and July as well as in Christmas with a view to reinforcing our ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy on drink driving also received considerable media coverage.
With more keen cyclists in recent years, cycling safety has remained one of the Council’s key focus areas. In the year the Council launched the ‘Outlying Island Safe Cycling Campaign’ in Cheung Chau and the ‘Lantau Safe Cycling Carnival Ceremony’ in Tung Chung to promote cycling safety awareness. With particular emphasis on the younger age groups, the Council employed qualified trainers to provide 120 cycling safety training courses to approximately 6,000 students at 96 primary and secondary schools in 2014. These courses were well received by the trainees, the parents and the participating schools.
Elderly pedestrians remain statistically the most vulnerable group among all road users. Of the 100 fatalities involved in traffic accidents in 2014, 44 were elderly pedestrians. The Council believes that the participation of the elderly and related organisations in this ongoing effort is instrumental. To reinforce road safety awareness among the elderly, the Council has continued in partnership with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) a phone-in road safety quiz competition in 2014 highlighting the message of ‘Love yourself, Love your family, Be a smart pedestrian’. An award presentation ceremony for the winning teams of the quiz competition cum our annual ceremony was held in November 2015 in Tsuen Wan. In addition, a mini-movie ‘All About Love’ was produced by RTHK on the same theme.
As driving inattentively has been the top contributory factor in traffic accidents for the past four years, the Council launched the theme of ‘Driving Attentively’ this year to remind drivers to pay more attention whilst driving. An API addressing the associated danger to road users has been broadcast on TV and radio since January 2015. Large banners with the slogan ‘No Distractions, Driving Attentively’ were displayed on major traffic routes and via different media platforms.
2014 has been a successful and fruitful year with a welcoming drop in traffic fatalities. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our Council members who have wholeheartedly supported our efforts in mobilizing the community to improve road safety over the years. The challenges ahead for the Council would be no less with more vehicles on the road but I am confident that together we will make the road safer for the users. We will strive to achieve our vision – ‘Zero Accidents on the Road, Hong Kong’s Goal’ in collaboration with other stakeholders.
WONG Chi-hung, Tony
Chairman
Road Safety Council
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