Traffic Accident Statistics

The Council’s programmes and direction are based on objective accident trends and causations. Traffic accident statistics and trends are therefore carefully analysed to develop and implement measures to mitigate and prevent traffic accidents.

2015 Statistics

An analysis of Hong Kong’s traffic accident statistics for 2015 reveals that 16 170 traffic accidents involved injuries, with a total of 20 381 casualties. On average, 44 traffic accidents with injuries occurred every day during the year and about two people were killed each week. Compared with the previous year, the number of accidents and the number of casualties increased slightly by 2.41% and 2.65% respectively.

Categorising accidents by collision type reveals that in 2015 the number of vehicle collisions involving pedestrians decreased from 3 310 cases in 2014 to 3 218 cases in 2015. However, cases involving one vehicle colliding with another increased from 6 656 cases in 2014 to 7 098 cases in 2015.

While there has not been any significant change in the past decade in the number of traffic accidents involving injuries, there is a downward trend in fatalities. A total of 122 people were killed in traffic accidents in 2015.

The Council studies causes and consequences of traffic accidents and maintains a comprehensive traffic accident database to help formulate appropriate road safety strategies. Clearly, pedestrians consistently suffer the highest number of fatalities while private cars are the group most commonly involved in accidents. Of the 25 185 vehicles involved in traffic accidents in 2015, private cars accounted for 7 757, compared with 4 332 taxis, 2 762 public buses, 2 708 light goods vehicles, 2 685 bicycles, 2 328 motorcycles and 2 613 other vehicle types.

Impact of Road Conditions

Statistics show that among injuries related to traffic accidents, 23% occurred at road junctions and 24% occurred at pedestrian crossings. Some 28% of traffic accidents happened at night while another 3% occurred around dawn or dusk.

Top five contributory factors in traffic accidents 2015 (from four perspectives)

I. Driver

Contributory Factors	No. of Drivers
Driving inattentively	4 130
Lost control of vehicle	1 630
Driving too close to vehicle in front	1 547
Careless lane changing	1 118
Careless cycling	984

II. Casualty (Passenger or Pedestrian)

Contributory Factors	No. of Casualties
Passenger lost balance, elsewhere except on stairway of bus	687
Pedestrian inattentiveness	600
Crossing road heedless of traffic (elsewhere)	363
Passenger lost balance, on stairway of bus	220
Crossing road heedless of traffic (at crossing)	212

III. Vehicle

Contributory Factors	No. of Vehicles
Unidentified vehicle (hit and run)	178
Mechanical defect	68
Defective or illegal tyre	7
Broken down with hazard warning lights unlit	7
Tyre blown out before impact	6

IV. Environment

Contributory Factors	No. of Accidents
Pedestrian negligence	358
Object or animal in road	194
Slippery road (caused by weather)	119
Steep slope	83
Slippery road (not related to weather)	82

Non-governmental Organisations

The Way Forward