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Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Cheng and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (November 21):
Question:
As traffic accidents involving professional drivers (including drivers of franchised and non-franchised buses, taxis and public light buses) with health problems have often occurred in recent years, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of traffic accidents involving franchised and non-franchised buses, taxis and public light buses in the past three years, and among such accidents, the numbers of those involving drivers with poor physical or mental conditions (including having insufficient sleep or feeling drowsy);
(b) of the number of complaints received by the Government involving the leave arrangements for franchised bus drivers in each of the past three years;
(c) given that the authorities have indicated, in a paper submitted for the meeting of the Panel on Transport of this Council held on March 23 this year, that it is currently reviewing with the franchised bus companies the Guidelines on Working Schedule for Franchised Bus Drivers to see what practical improvements can be arranged in scheduling the rest-time of bus captains, of the results of the review and the details of the relevant improvement measures; and
(d) whether the Government will consider amending the legislation to make it mandatory for drivers aged 50 or above to undergo physical examination upon renewal of their driving licences; if so, of the details ?
Reply:
Madam President,
(1) The number of traffic accidents involving the physical fitness or mental status of the drivers (including driver falling asleep, feeling drowsy or having sudden illnesses) of franchised buses, non-franchised buses, taxis and public light buses in the past three years are as follows:
Year Number of Traffic Accidents
Franchised Non-franchised Taxis Public
Buses Buses Light Buses
2004 1 5 19 3
(1,839) (491) (3,083) (1,090)
2005 3 2 13 6
(1,864) (436) (3,327) (1,091)
2006 2 1 14 5
(1,892) (424) (3,320) (1,027)
( ) Figures in brackets are the total number of traffic accidents involving franchised buses, non-franchised buses, taxis and public light buses.
(2) The Transport Department (TD) has not received any complaints involving leave arrangements of franchised bus captains in the past three years. However, a number of bus driver unions have expressed views on the working hour and leave arrangement for bus captains through meetings with TD. TD has already conveyed their views to the franchised bus companies which have taken into account these views in formulating the work schedule of the bus drivers.
(3) To ensure that bus drivers have sufficient time to rest, TD reviews, in conjunction with the franchised bus companies, the work scheduling for their bus captains from time to time. Moreover, TD has issued "Guidelines on Working Schedule for Franchised Bus Drivers" (the Guidelines) to the bus companies, with a view to facilitating the companies' operation and catering for the needs of their staff.
In 2004, TD reviewed and revised the Guidelines with various franchised bus companies, such that the break period for bus captains between successive working days was increased from 8 hours to no less than 9 hours.
In the light of the concerns expressed by the Legislative Council Panel on Transport (the Panel) on the working hours and rest time of franchised bus captains in the past year, TD reviewed the Guidelines again with the franchised bus companies in early 2007. TD considered that there was room to further improve the rest time arrangement for bus captains and recommended two revisions to the Guidelines. First, the existing provision relating to the total service breaks of at least 20 minutes within the 6-hour duty of bus captains was further refined to stipulate that a rest time of at least 12 minutes in total should be made available within the first 4 hours of the duty. This arrangement allows the rest time of bus captains to be distributed more evenly. Second, the break period for bus captains between successive working days was increased from 9 hours to no less than 9.5 hours.
TD will continue to monitor the work scheduling for bus captains of franchised bus companies and will review the arrangement as and when necessary.
(4) The Road Traffic (Driving Licences) Regulations (Cap. 374B) (the Regulations) stipulate that an applicant for issuance or renewal of a full driving licence will need to produce a certificate issued by a registered medical practitioner certifying that he is medically fit to drive if he is aged 70 or above. The driving licence issued to him is valid for 1 to 3 years, which is shorter than the validity period for a normal driving licence of 10 years. TD has also looked into the practices of some overseas countries and found that the majority of them require applicants aged 70-80 or above to produce health certificates in applying for driving licences. Their arrangements are on a par with that of Hong Kong.
Moreover, an applicant for a driving licence, regardless of his age, is required under the Regulations to make a declaration on the application form as to whether or not he is suffering from any disease or with any physical disabilities such that his driving would cause danger to the public. TD will carefully consider the relevant declaration before issuing a driving licence. The Regulations also require a licence holder to report any of these diseases or physical disabilities to the Commissioner for Transport once he becomes aware of it, and the Commissioner will consider the need to cancel his driving licence.
We are of the view that the existing mechanism is effective in securing the safety of drivers and other road users.
Ends/Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:50
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