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Following is a question by the Hon Miriam Lau and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (June 17):
Question:
Regarding the sticking of heat-insulating and light-transmitting colour films on windscreens and windows of vehicles by vehicle owners, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of prosecutions instituted in the past five years against vehicle owners for sticking heat-insulating and light-transmitting colour films on vehicle glass without approval;
(b) of the number of the relevant applications received by the Transport Department in the past five years and, among them, the number of applications rejected as well as the reasons for rejecting the applications;
(c) whether the Government had tested in the past three years the impact of sticking heat-insulating and light-transmitting colour films on how fast the temperature inside vehicles increases and the fuel consumption rate of vehicles under sunlight; if it had, of the test results; if not, whether it will conduct such tests;
(d) whether it knows how overseas authorities regulate the sticking of heat-insulating and light-transmitting colour films on vehicle glass by vehicle owners; and
(e) given that the authorities are drafting legislation to ban idling vehicles with running engines, whether the Government will relax the regulation on the sticking of heat-insulating and light-transmitting colour films on vehicle glass, so as to lower the temperature inside vehicles; if so, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the five parts of the question is as follows:
(a) Safety specifications of motor vehicle glass are governed by regulation 28 of the Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) Regulations (the Regulations) (Cap. 374A). Regulations 28(1)(a) and (b) provide that the glass or transparent material used in all windscreens, windows and partitions of a motor vehicle shall be safety glass or safety glazing approved by the Commissioner for Transport, and that the material shall be of such transparency that it does not obscure the view of the interior of the motor vehicle. Moreover, regulation 28(2) stipulates that no alteration or addition shall be made to any windscreen or window whereby the reflecting effect of the safety glass or safety glazing is increased, or whereby the ability of such safety glass or safety glazing to transmit light is decreased.
In 2002, the Transport Department (TD) reviewed and revised the requirement concerning the ban on sticking solar films to vehicle windows. Without prejudice to the light transmission rate (LTR) requirement for vehicle windows, vehicle owners may, starting from 2003, apply to TD for using such films. However, to ensure that motorists have a clear vision of the road, we do not encourage sticking tinted solar films to vehicle glass. In carrying out day-to-day enforcement, the Police will investigate vehicles suspected of using substandard motor vehicle glass. In addition, the Police will conduct roadside checks on motor vehicles jointly with Vehicle Examiners of TD. The numbers of prosecutions initiated by the Police in accordance with regulation 28(2) of the Regulations against motor vehicles using solar films (Note 1) for the offence of "alteration/addition to windscreens/windows/partitions" over the past five years are as follows:
Year No. of cases
2004 107
2005 67
2006 133
2007 172
2008 258
Note 1: Most of the films were of dark colour and the overall LTR of the glass and the film did not meet the minimum requirement.
(b) In the past five years, TD received a total of 106 applications for using solar films on vehicles. Details are as follows:
Year No. of applications
2004 17
2005 7
2006 14
2007 29
2008 39
One application each was rejected in 2006 and 2007 respectively. The vehicles concerned failed to meet the minimum LTR requirement after solar films were applied.
(c) TD and other relevant departments did not carry out tests on such impact as temperature inside vehicle and fuel consumption rate after applying tinted solar film, nor do they have any plan to do so at present. Under the existing arrangements, motorists may apply to TD for using solar films to meet their individual needs. This is to ensure that the vehicle window glass meets the LTR requirement and motorists' vision will not be affected. The Government supports environment-friendly measures as long as the material used meets vehicle safety requirements and is suitable for road use.
(d) The Mainland and some overseas countries do regulate the LTR of vehicle windows to ensure that motorists have a clear vision of the road. In the Mainland, the National Standard on Safety Specifications for Power Driven Vehicles Operating on the Roads stipulates that no mirror finish reflective solar film is allowed on vehicle window glass. In Australia, changes to the colour of vehicle window glass during non-manufacturing processes are prohibited. In other countries such as Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, sticking solar films is allowed, but only without prejudice to the LTR requirement.
(e) As pointed out in part (a) of my reply, without prejudice to the LTR requirement, vehicle owners may, starting from 2003, apply to TD for using solar films. Normally, the procedures can be completed and tests can be conducted within two weeks for applications submitted with all the required documents. Moreover, TD has relaxed the LTR requirement for private cars in 2008. The minimum LTR requirement for the window glass behind the driver seat of all private cars fitted with external rear-view mirrors on both sides is lowered from 70% to 44%. The revised requirement allows the use of glass which is more effective in insulating external heat for private cars.
Ends/Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:22
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