Chairman's Foreword

As Chairman of the Road Safety Council (the Council), I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our Annual Report 2018 in this, the Council’s 45th year of operation.

Despite tragedies on our roads including the Tai Po bus crash in which 19 people were killed, 2018 was otherwise a relatively successful year in terms of road safety. The number of accidents involving serious injuries and fatalities dropped from 2,174 in 2017 to 1,789 in 2018, which is the lowest figure recorded in Hong Kong since 1959. Although each fatality is a tragedy, Hong Kong continued to enjoy a good record for overall road safety when compared with major cities in other parts of the world. It was another year of concerted effort amongst our members, partners and the community to maintain Hong Kong as one of the world’s safest cities for road users.

Based on analysis of traffic accidents during 2017, the five priority areas that formed the focus of our efforts in 2018 were ‘Elderly Pedestrian Safety’, ‘Cycling Safety’, ‘Anti-Drink Driving and Anti-Drug Driving’, ‘Driving Inattentively’ and ‘Student Pedestrian Safety’.

For the year ahead, the Council will continue to steer road safety initiatives by using our multi-agency approach, and with reference to best practices in other jurisdictions and to developments in modern technology. We will maintain our overall strategy of Engagement with the community to educate us all about road safety of Engineering safety and technology into our road infrastructure and related processes, and of Enforcing road traffic laws against those who breach them using the ‘Selected Traffic Enforcement Priorities’ policy.

Lastly, in addition to those members working within Government on matters connected with road safety, I would like to thank those members of our community from the private sector and other organisations who have given so much of their time and effort in supporting the Council. Without their considerable and public-spirited support, our work would be so much harder. Let’s work together to strive for safer roads for everyone, and to work towards our road safety vision of:

"Zero Accidents on the Road, Hong Kong's Goal!"

TANG Ping-keung
Chairperson
Road Safety Council

Elderly Pedestrian Safety

Elderly pedestrians (people aged 65 and above) remained the group within our society who formed the highest proportion of road fatalities. Of the 135 fatalities in 2018, 48 were elderly pedestrians. To raise road safety awareness among the elderly, the Council organised numerous road safety activities, including talent shows, light hearted activities, games and experience sharing, plus the Elderly Pedestrian Road Safety Talent Show 2018-19 organised in partnership with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK).

Cycling Safety

In 2018, the Council continued to employ qualified trainers to deliver cycling safety training courses to students of 33 primary schools and 7 secondary schools. The students were taught how to ride legally and safely, so as to prevent cycling accidents.

Anti-Drink Driving and Anti-Drug Driving

There was an encouraging drop in the number of drink and drug driving related traffic accidents during 2018. The Council continued to raise awareness through promotional banners on flyovers, bus body advertisements, TV and radio APIs(announcements in the public interest), as well as social media, to remind motorists of the tragic impact of drink and drug driving on the community.

Driving Inattentively

As driving inattentively has been the top causation factor for driver related traffic accidents over the years, the Council launched a new series of APIs on television and radio with the theme of “Be a Responsible Road User” to remind drivers to pay attention whilst driving. Research indicates using a mobile phone decreases drivers’ reaction times by around 40%, so don’t do it.

Student Pedestrian Safety

In the past few years, the pedestrian casualty rate for those aged from 10 to 14 was the second highest, after elderly pedestrians. In order to protect our children, the Council continued to promote Student Pedestrian Safety as one of the five main focus areas. Through various publicity campaigns and road safety talks, children, parents, teachers and drivers of school buses were taught how to ensure their safety on/near the roads.