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Police will continue to enhance road safety through the three-pronged approach of enforcement, education and publicity.
The remarks were made by the Director of Operations, Mr Hung Hak-wai, today (August 3) at a press conference to review the crime situation in Hong Kong in the first half of 2011.
Mr Hung said that the number of drink driving-related traffic accidents in the first six months of this year had decreased to 101 cases, compared with 103 cases in the same period last year.
A total of 506 persons were arrested for drink driving in the first six months, a slight increase compared with 492 arrested persons in the corresponding period last year.
Mr Hung stressed that the Random Breathing Test had achieved a significant deterrent effect and Police action would continue.
In addition, the Road Traffic (Amendment) Ordinance 2010, which came into effect on December 17 last year, had introduced measures to further deter drink driving offences and other inappropriate driving behaviour.
Regarding drug driving incidents, 31 cases were recorded in the first six months of 2011, a decrease of 12 cases, compared with 43 cases in the corresponding period in 2010. The commonly abused drug was ketamine.
"In order to implement stringent anti-drug driving measures, the Road Traffic Amendment Bill 2011 was gazetted on May 13 this year and presented to LegCo on May 25. The Bills Committee has also commenced scrutiny of the bill," said Mr Hung, adding that Police would continue monitoring drug driving incidents closely.
Reviewing general road safety in Hong Kong, Mr Hung said the number of traffic accidents in the first six months of 2011 was 7,164, representing a decrease of 80 compared with the same period last year. The number of fatal traffic accidents however increased by two from 54 in the same period last year to 56 this year.
"As regards casualties by road user groups, it is worth noting that casualties involving cyclists recorded an increase of 11 per cent, from 852 in the same period last year to 946 this year," Mr Hung said.
Overall traffic enforcement actions totalled 631,679 in the first half of 2011, representing an increase of three per cent compared with 613,015 in the same period last year.
Mr Hung said that a series of operations was conducted in the first half of 2011 targeting drink driving, professional drivers and pedestrian offences. On the publicity side, pedestrian safety, cycling safety, anti-drug driving and anti-drink driving are the themes for road safety campaigns in 2011/12.
"We will continue to seek the support of all road users in our efforts to enhance road safety," he added.
Turning to the issue of illegal immigrants, Mr Hung said the number of Mainland illegal immigrants (MIIs) showed a downward trend in the first six months of 2011 and 796 MIIs were arrested, representing a decrease of 348 MIIs over 1,144 MIIs in the same period last year.
He said that 74 MIIs were arrested for criminal offences from January to June this year, an increase of one over 73 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by MIIs were theft, forgery and immigration offences. In addition, 111 female MIIs were arrested for prostitution, a decrease of 92 over 203 arrested for this offence in the same period last year.
In the first six months of this year, 115 non-ethnic Chinese illegal immigrants (NEC IIs) were arrested, a decrease of 64 over 179 NEC IIs arrested in the same period last year.
Two NEC IIs were arrested for committing crimes, a decrease of six over eight in the same period last year. The offences they committed were using an ID card relating to another and breach of a deportation order.
Regarding crimes committed by Mainland visitors (MVs), Mr Hung said from January to June in 2011, there were 12.59 million MV arrivals, of which 580 were arrested for committing criminal offences, an increase of seven compared with 573 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by the MVs were theft, forgery, serious assault and serious immigration offences.
Between January and June this year, 1,754 MVs were arrested for involvement in prostitution, representing a 3.3 per cent increase compared with 1,698 in the same period last year.
In the past six months, the Force has taken a series of actions with other departments and arrested 608 illegal Mainland workers, which represented a decrease of 1.1 per cent compared with 615 in the same period last year.
Mr Hung said: "Police will maintain close liaison and intelligence exchange with Mainland counterparts to secure the most updated information for our appropriate deployment in order to combat the IIs effectively.
"We will also adopt a three-level approach including effective screening at all immigration control points and enhancing local enforcement with other law enforcement agencies to tackle the problem of Mainland visitors committing crime."
Police Report No. 10
Issued by PPRB
Ends/Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:24
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