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Following is a question by the Hon Abraham Shek and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (December 19):
Question:
It has been reported that recently there were a number of fatal traffic accidents involving the use of mobile telephones by professional drivers at the time of accident. Furthermore, many taxi drivers offering fare discounts were found using several mobile telephones concurrently while driving to communicate with passengers who called to book a taxi, and when taking down the booking information, they did not hold the steering wheel with both hands, thus posing a threat to road safety. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of traffic accidents since January, 2007 which involved professional drivers using mobile telephones when the accidents took place, together with a breakdown by the class of vehicles involved;
(b) given that under the existing legislation, a driver must not use a mobile telephone while holding it in his hand or between his head and shoulder if a motor vehicle being driven by him is in motion, whether it will step up enforcement efforts to prosecute offending drivers; and
(c) whether it will consider legislating for a total ban on the use of mobile telephone by professional drivers while driving; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) According to the records of the Transport Department and the Police, there was no traffic accident involving drivers using mobile phones while driving between January and November, 2007.
(b) The Police have been taking active enforcement action against the offence of persons using mobile phones or telecommunications equipment by holding it in his hand or between his head and shoulder while driving. Starting from 2006, the Police can institute prosecutions by way of fixed penalty tickets. As a result, the number of prosecutions against this offence rose from 7,813 in 2005 to 27,968 in 2006, representing an increase of over 250%. The Police have further stepped up their enforcement action this year, and the number of prosecutions in the first 10 months of the year was 28,269, representing an increase of 23% when compared with 22,967 during the same period last year. If a driver is found using a mobile phone while driving and affecting other road users, the Police may consider charging him with careless driving as appropriate. Enforcement action in this respect will continue.
(c) On July 1, 2000, we introduced legislation to prohibit a driver from using a mobile phone while holding it in his hand or between his head and shoulder while the vehicle is in motion. On July 1, 2001, the legislation was extended to cover the use of other hand-held telecommunications equipment including radio phones. To streamline the prosecution procedures against offenders, this offence was included in the Schedule to the Fixed Penalty (Criminal Proceedings) Ordinance on January 1, 2006, so that the Police can institute prosecutions by way of fixed penalty tickets.
We consider that the existing legislation has already provided appropriate regulation for drivers using mobile phones while the vehicle is in motion. A total ban on the use of mobile phones with hand-free devices by professional drivers while driving will make it difficult for them to communicate with outside parties during their working hours even if they have operational or personal needs, and cause inconvenience to them. Moreover, the traffic accident figures do not provide sufficient justifications to further tighten the legislation. We therefore have no intention to amend the legislation. We will closely monitor the traffic accident and prosecution trends, and will review the relevant legislation as and when necessary.
Ends/Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:43
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