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The following is issued on behalf of the Road Safety Council:
The number of road accidents causing death in Hong Kong in the first 10 months this year was 114, a fall of 9.5% on same period last year, the Chairman of the Road Safety Council and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Yam Tat-wing, said today (December 7).
The number of road accidents fell by 5.9% to 11,963 and the number of people injured dropped by 6.4% to 15,330. This was an encouraging result of the concerted efforts of different sectors of the community and the implementation of different measures, Mr Yam said.
Speaking at the 2008 Road Safety Launching Ceremony and Road Safety Vision Song and Symbol Promotion, Mr Yam said Hong Kong's road safety situation had maintained a satisfactory level with road safety publicity efforts and different measures. Last year, Hong Kong's road accident fatality rate was the seventh lowest among major cities in the world, and the lowest in Asia.
To further reduce fatal and serious road accidents, Mr Yam said the Road Safety Council would focus on promoting elderly passenger safety, cycling safety and the new anti-drink driving legislation to be enacted early next year. The council will also continue to join with government departments, District Councils, transport operators and community groups to drive home the road safety message to the public and improve Hong Kong's road safety standards.
Saying that achieving zero accidents was the vision of the Road Safety Council, Mr Yam hoped all the people would continue to work with the council to reach this ultimate goal.
A half-hour television special of this launching ceremony will be aired at 11.05pm on December 23 (Tuesday) on TVB-Jade.
The Chairman of the Road Safety Campaign Committee, Mr Lawrence Yu; the Chairman of the Road Safety Research Committee, Mr Ching Kam-cheong; 2008 Beijing Olympian Wong Kam-po; and Road Safety Vision Song Performer Priscilla Chan, also officiated at the ceremony.
Ends/Sunday, December 7, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:23
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