The Way Forward

Looking Ahead

The Road Safety Council actively assists the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in pursuit of the vision, ‘Zero Accidents on the Road, Hong Kong’s Goal’. With rising levels of vehicle ownership and a growing population, traffic volumes on our roads are expected to continue to increase. The Council will continue to enhance road safety through a three-pronged strategy:– public engagement, road engineering and proactive enforcement to make our roads and community safer.

Spreading the Safety Message

The Council conducts publicity campaigns to enhance public awareness of its five road safety themes – ‘Elderly Pedestrian Safety’, ‘Cycling Safety’, ‘Anti–Drink Driving and Anti–Drug Driving’, ‘Driving Attentively’ and ‘Student Pedestrian Safety’ – in order to encourage the public to play its part in ensuring that every road user is safe. Road safety publicity materials are disseminated through various media platforms, including the television, radio, the Council website, YouTube and video walls. Promotional posters are displayed at MTR stations and leaflets are distributed through educational publicity events and campaigns; banners are hung at the flyovers of main thoroughfares and alongside cycling tracks. Every year, the Council holds an Anniversary Ceremony to highlight the selected road safety theme of the year and to maximise the spread of road safety messages.

The educational video, ‘Safe Cycling: Rules and Tips’ featuring key safety messages and illustrating proper cycling techniques on roads and cycle tracks will continue to be broadcast on various channels and is also accessible via the websites of the Council and the Transport Department. The Council’s website is updated with the latest news on road safety publicity and campaigns, and other pertinent information. This Annual Report, which details the Council’s activities throughout the year, is published along with a series of road safety bulletins focused on specific road safety themes.

Educating Target Groups

The Transport Department disseminates road safety messages to professional drivers through newsletters, seminars, workshops and regular meetings held with public transport operators. It will continue to conduct the ‘Safe Driving and Health Campaign’ to enhance safe driving skills and health awareness among commercial vehicle drivers. As at present, regular Road Safety Bulletins on specific road safety subjects will be published and distributed to the public. In addition, the Police conduct seminars at primary and secondary schools and carry out street education at traffic accident black spots and boundary control points to reach target groups and raise their awareness. The Road Safety Bus, manned by police officers, is an effective platform to convey road safety messages to children at kindergartens and the elderly at communal homes. To further enhance road safety awareness among the elderly, a phone-in road safety quiz competition will continue to be held via radio channels.

Recognising that road safety education should begin at an early age, the Council works closely with the Hong Kong Road Safety Association to engage young students in road safety activities and publicity campaigns in order to nurture them to be responsible road users. The Council has also developed various training materials that are given to youngsters in the community during road safety lectures.

Training courses and lectures on cycling safety and skills are also part of the Council’s community youth awareness programme in primary and secondary schools. The cycling training programme will continue to be conducted to improve students’ cycling skills and safety awareness in view of increasing cycling participation.

The Education Bureau conveys road safety messages and cultivates responsibility and civic awareness among students through the school curriculum. Educational television programmes and related learning and teaching resources with an emphasis on positive values and attitudes and proper behaviour among road users are developed to facilitate the promotion of road safety education in schools.

Statistics suggest that elderly people are the most vulnerable to traffic accidents. Service units of the Social Welfare Department and non-governmental organisations will continue to include road safety as a key message in their community programmes for the elderly. Bulletins and printed materials will be distributed to the public.

The Police review the Selected Traffic Enforcement Priorities every year so as to respond to the latest road safety situations, change the undesirable behaviours of road users that can lead to accidents and ensure that everyone takes responsibility to make sure every road user is safe.