Traffic Accident Statistics

The Council’s programmes and direction are formulated with reference to accident trends and common accident contributory factors. To this end, traffic accident statistics and trends are carefully analysed to determine appropriate measures to mitigate and prevent traffic accidents.

2017 Statistics

An analysis of Hong Kong’s traffic accident statistics for 2017 reveals that 15,725 traffic accidents involved injuries, with a total of 19,888 casualties. On average, 43 traffic accidents with injuries occurred each 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 decreased slightly by 2.32% and 1.21% respectively. 

Categorising accidents by collision type reveals that the number of vehicle collisions involving pedestrians decreased from 3,172 cases in 2016 to 2,958 cases in 2017. However, cases involving one vehicle colliding with another increased from 7,507 cases in 2016 to 7,648 cases in 2017.

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 108 people were killed in traffic accidents in 2017.

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 25,372 vehicles involved in traffic accidents in 2017, private cars accounted for 8,607, compared with 4,359 taxis, 2,790 light goods vehicles, 2,726 public buses, 2,280 motorcycles, 2,061 bicycles and 2,549 other vehicle types.

Impact of Road Conditions

Over the year, among injuries related to traffic accidents, 27 percent occurred at road junctions and 25 percent occurred at pedestrian crossings. Some 29 percent of traffic accidents happened at night while another four percent occurred around dawn or dusk.

Top five contributory factors in traffic accidents 2017 (from four perspectives)

I. Driver

II. Casualty (Passenger or Pedestrian)

III. Vehicle

IV. Environment