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 keep increasing. 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 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 social media and different platforms, including television, radio, websites, YouTube and video walls. Promotional imagery is displayed at MTR stations, leaflets are distributed through educational publicity events and campaigns, and 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.

‘Safe Cycling: Rules and Tips’, an educational video featuring key safety messages as well as cycling skills and rules on roads and cycle tracks, is broadcast on various channels and is also accessible via the websites of the Council and the Transport Department. The Council’s website is kept up-to-date 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 meetings with public transport operators and trades that use commercial vehicles. It conducts the ‘Safe Driving and Health Campaign’ to enhance safe driving skills and health awareness among commercial vehicle drivers. It also publishes Road Safety Bulletins on various road safety subjects, and distributes them to the public. The Road Safety Bulletins are also available on the Transport Department’s website. 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 part of the Council’s community youth awareness programme in primary and secondary schools. A cycling training programme is conducted to improve students’ cycling skills and safety awareness in view of increasing levels of cycling in the population.

The Education Bureau (EDB) conveys road safety messages and cultivates students’ sense of responsibility and civic awareness through school curricula and various learning activities. The EDB has been producing relevant learning and teaching resources with an emphasis on developing positive values and attitudes, and proper behaviour among road users 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 other printed materials will be distributed to the public.

The Police review the Selected Traffic Enforcement Priorities every year, aiming to respond to the latest road safety situations, change undesirable road-user behaviours that can lead to accidents, and make sure everyone takes responsibility for ensuring that every road user is safe.

Outlook

Looking ahead, RSC will explore new initiatives and activities to enhance road safety. We will continue to work actively using a multi-agency approach and the three-pronged strategy - public engagement, road engineering and proactive enforcement, to achieve casualty reduction. Concerned stakeholders (both Government Departments /Policy Bureaux and non-governmental organizations) will continue to strive towards achieving the vision of “Zero Accidents on the Road, Hong Kong’s Goal”.