Building on the work of its predecessor, the Standing Conference on Road Safety established in 1973, the Road Safety Council came into being in 1983 as a government advisory body to promote road safety in Hong Kong. The Council is chaired by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), with a membership drawn from seven government bureaux and departments and six non-governmental organizations and is committed to reducing the number and severity of traffic accidents in Hong Kong by formulating road safety initiatives and undertaking education and publicity programmes to encourage everyone to take up responsibility to ensure the safety of every road user.
The Council is supported by two committees and five working groups – the Road Safety Campaign Committee (RSCC), the Road Safety Research Committee (RSRC), the Road Safety Publicity Strategy Working Group, the Road Safety Innovation and Technology Working Group, the Road Safety Focused Action on Target Groups Working Group, the Road Safety Strategic Engagement Working Group, and the Road Safety Council Annual Report Working Group.
The Road Safety Publicity Strategy Working Group formulates publicity plans for examination by the Road Safety Campaign Committee and is its executive arm for road safety educational and publicity events. The Road Safety Research Committee is responsible for technical research with the aim of enhancing road safety. The Road Safety Innovation and Technology Working Group advises on use of innovation and technology to make road users safer and in promoting road safety campaigns. The Road Safety Focused Action on Target Groups Working Group analyses traffic accident data to prioritize enforcement at the correct time, location and against prevalent traffic offences. The Road Safety Strategic Engagement Working Group engages with the transport sector, trade and other stakeholders at a strategic level to forge partnership on critical road safety issues. The Road Safety Council Annual Report Working Group is responsible to produce the Council’s annual report.