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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport, Mr Nicholas Ng, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question: Will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it knows how Hong Kong's current driving test fees for various driving licences and the average instruction fees paid by learner drivers compare to the corresponding figures in other advanced countries in Europe and America;

(b) of the number of complaints about driving tests it received over the past three years, with a breakdown by the subject of complaint; and

(c) of the follow-up actions it has taken on these complaints?

Reply :

Madam President,

(a) In Hong Kong, the driving test fee for all types of vehicle is HK$510. For comparison, taking private car as an example, the test fee in a few European and North American cities are as follows:

* Toronto            HK$ 1,330

* London             HK$ 1,070

* Belgium            HK$ 390

* New York           HK$ 350

In Hong Kong, the fee paid by learner drivers for driver training varies depending on the type of vehicle, the number of hours they practise, and the mode of training (private driving instructors or driving schools). If we take private car driver training as an example and using a 35-hour course as a basis, the fee ranges from $5,250 for a course of lessons from private driving instructors to $8,000 for a course operated by a driving school. For a similar training course in a driving school in Belgium, the cost will be around HK$9,700. The average hourly fee for a lesson from a private driving instructor in Hong Kong is about $150 as compared with HK$130 in Toronto.

(b) The number of driving tests conducted by the Department in the past three years together with the number of complaints received are :

                                    Year

Nature           1997         1998        1999

------           -----------------------------

Driving Tests    211,232     215,072      199,457

conducted



Breakdown of Complaints by Subject:

* Uncommitted       61            81         101

  mistakes

* Manner of          2             3           6

 examiner 

* Both Uncommitted   5             6           8

mistakes & manner 

of examiner

* Unclear            -             2           2

Instructions 

* Miscellaneous      1             7          10



Total               69            99         127

(c) All complaints on driving tests are handled by a Complaint Unit of Transport Department comprising one Senior Driving Examiner and one Driving Examiner. On receiving a complaint on a driving test, the investigation officer will review the driving test results on the basis of the Driving Examiner's report. He would seek further statements from the Driving Examiner and conduct site visits if necessary before conducting an interview/telephone discussion with the complainant. During the interview/telephone conversation, the investigation officer will collect further information from the complainant. Depending on the circumstances of the complaint, the complainant may be advised of the reasons for his failure, or be given a free re-test if the complaint is substantiated. If the complainant is dissatisfied with the investigation result, the case may be brought up to the Commissioner for Transport for review and a final decision. The number of re-tests granted in the past three years is eight, nine and seventeen respectively.

End/Wednesday, March 29, 2000

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