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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Sing-chi and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (March 28):
Question:
Regarding the direct issue of Hong Kong full driving licence without test and Guangdong/Hong Kong cross-boundary vehicles, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that the Transport and Housing Bureau indicated in its reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on February 29 this year that "the Transport Department attaches great importance to possible abuse associated with the arrangement of direct issue of Hong Kong full driving licence. It will conduct investigation into applications suspected to involve the use of fraudulent documents. These cases may also be referred to the Police for consideration of taking prosecution actions depending on the circumstances":
(i) whether it had conducted investigation into abuse associated with the arrangement of direct issue of Hong Kong full driving licence without test or applications involving the use of fraudulent documents in the past five years, and whether the Police had initiated any prosecution against such acts; if so, of the details, together with a breakdown by year; and
(ii) whether any person had been found in the past five years to have obtained Hong Kong driving licence using fraudulent documents and the licence was subsequently cancelled; if so, of the details, together with a breakdown by year;
(b) whether it knows the respective numbers of vehicles issued with Guangdong and Hong Kong licences and of drivers holding Guangdong and Hong Kong driving licences in the past five years; among them, the respective numbers and proportion of the licences registered on the Mainland and those registered in Hong Kong; the respective numbers of cases involving applicants directly issued with mainland driving licences on the strength of their Hong Kong driving licences, and those cases involving applicants directly issued with Hong Kong driving licences on the strength of their mainland driving licences, with a breakdown by year;
(c) of the respective numbers of vehicle licence plates prefixed with FU or FV allocated under the international circulation permits issued by the authorities to vehicles registered outside Hong Kong in each of the past five years, as well as the criteria and standards based on which the authorities issued such licence plates to vehicles;
(d) of the number of vehicles travelling between Guangdong and Hong Kong in the past five years; whether it knows the details of the cases of violation of traffic regulations of Guangdong and Hong Kong involving such vehicles (including the numbers of speeding, dangerous driving and drink driving cases, the number of persons prosecuted, the number of accidents and casualties), together with a breakdown by year, which direction the vehicles were travelling to and from (travelling from Hong Kong to the Mainland and return as well as travelling from the Mainland to Hong Kong and return) and nature of violation;
(e) of the current procedures for persons owning vehicles registered on the Mainland and holding mainland driving licences to apply for driving such vehicles in Hong Kong, whether the applicants are required to take tests again or attend driving courses; of the vetting work performed by the relevant government departments in Hong Kong; of the number of mainlanders applying to drive in Hong Kong in each of the past five years; and
(f) if it knows the current procedures for persons owning vehicles registered in Hong Kong and holding Hong Kong driving licences to apply for driving such vehicles on the Mainland; whether such applicants are required to take tests again or attend driving courses; the vetting work performed by the relevant government departments on the Mainland; the numbers of Hong Kong people applying to drive on the Mainland in each of the past five years?
Reply:
President,
(a) Under regulation 11(3) of the Road Traffic (Driving Licences) Regulations (Cap374B) (the Regulations), the Commissioner for Transport may issue a Hong Kong full driving licence directly to an applicant on the strength of his/her driving licence issued by any country or place listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Regulations. There are at present a total of 32 countries or places, including the People's Republic of China (PRC), listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Regulations.
The Transport Department (TD) will prudently process and vet each of the direct issue applications to ensure that the applicants have fully satisfied the statutory requirements and produced true and accurate supporting documents. During the vetting process, if there is any doubt on the authenticity of the driving licence produced by an applicant, TD will seek clarification and confirmation from the relevant consulate or transport authority. Doubtful applications will not be further processed unless the authenticity of the documents submitted has been verified.
In 2009, TD suspected that some people succeeded earlier in applying for direct issue of Hong Kong driving licences by using forged overseas driving licences, and referred the cases to the Hong Kong Police Force for investigation. After verifying with the relevant overseas authorities, TD cancelled 14 Hong Kong driving licences held by the people concerned in 2011. However, no prosecutions were initiated by the Police owing to insufficient evidence upon investigation. Apart from this, there were no similar cases in the past five years.
(b) and (c) At present, cross-boundary vehicles are regulated under a quota system jointly administered by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Guangdong Provincial Government. These vehicles must have the Approval Notice issued by the Guangdong Public Security Department (GDPSD) and closed road permit (CRP) issued by TD, and have completed the formalities required by other Mainland authorities, before they could travel between Hong Kong and Guangdong. We do not have statistics on whether the driving licences held by drivers of such vehicles are obtained through direct issue. The numbers of non-commercial cross-boundary vehicles issued with valid CRPs and the drivers registered for such vehicles in the past five years are as follows:
From Hong Kong From Mainland
to Mainland to Hong Kong
Number Number Number Number
of of of of
vehicles drivers vehicles drivers
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2007 15,500 24,400 1,300 1,900
2008 19,500 29,700 1,400 2,000
2009 21,600 32,400 1,500 2,100
2010 22,800 33,700 1,600 2,400
2011 24,000 34,900 1,900 2,600
TD will issue International Circulation Permits (ICPs) to non-commercial vehicles brought into Hong Kong from a place outside Hong Kong for a short stay, and assign to them registration marks with prefix "FU" or "FV" in accordance with the law. The cross-boundary vehicles from the Mainland assigned with quotas belong to the Mainland governments, departments directly under the Mainland authorities or some enterprise units. Such vehicles are allocated with quotas to facilitate official and business exchanges between the Mainland and Hong Kong. Apart from the Mainland vehicles, TD processed on average about 13 ICP applications in each of the past five years concerning vehicles registered in overseas countries.
(d) The numbers of non-commercial cross-boundary vehicles issued with valid CRPs in each of the past five years are provided in part (b) and (c) above. We do not have figures on accidents and casualties involving Hong Kong vehicles on the Mainland. As for accidents in Hong Kong involving non-commercial Mainland vehicles, the numbers of accidents and casualties are as follows:
From Mainland to Hong Kong
Number of accidents Number of injuries
------------------------------------------------
2007 7 12
2008 3 22
2009 6 17
2010 0 0
2011 8 8
Regarding traffic prosecution, the Police do not have a breakdown by the place of origin of the vehicles concerned. In response to the Member's request, the Police have checked the records of prosecutions against Mainland non-commercial vehicles in the past five years. The numbers of prosecutions in respect of five common traffic offences as well as parking offences are set as in the Annex.
(e) and (f) In accordance with the Regulations, holders of Mainland driving licences who wish to drive in Hong Kong may do so through one of the following means:
(i) apply for a full driving licence by direct issue without test; or
(ii) drive on strength of their valid Mainland driving licences if they are visitors to Hong Kong (i.e. persons who arrive in Hong Kong other than to take up residence for a period exceeding 12 months).
Holders of Mainland driving licences who intend to apply for direct issue of full Hong Kong driving licences (the driving entitlements of full Hong Kong driving licence which can be applied for include private car, light goods vehicle, motor cycle and motor tricycle) must fulfill the following criteria:
(i) the Mainland driving licence must be:
(1) valid or has not expired for more than 3 years; and
(2) obtained through passing relevant driving test held in the issuing place;
(ii) the driving entitlement(s) applied for must be equivalent to the class(es) of vehicles which the applicant is authorised to drive under the Mainland driving licence; and
(iii) satisfy any one of the requirements listed below:
(1) have resided in the place of issue for a period of not less than six months during which the licence was issued; or
(2) have held the licence for five years or more immediately prior to the application; or
(3) hold a passport or equivalent travel document of the place in which the licence was issued.
Applicants must bring along their Mainland driving licences, identity documents, passports, Hong Kong address proof and other supporting documents certifying that they have met the above application conditions and approach the Hong Kong Licensing Office of TD to complete the formalities. Applications will be verified and processed in accordance with the procedures mentioned in part (a) above.
According to the records of TD, from 2007 to 2011, the numbers of successful applications for direct issue of full Hong Kong driving licences on the strength of PRC driving licences are as follows:
Year Number of applications
--------------------------------
2007 14,640
2008 13,690
2009 13,660
2010 16,290
2011 19,680
Visitors to Hong Kong from the Mainland can drive in Hong Kong with their valid Mainland driving licences without any registration procedures. Therefore, TD does not have the relevant records.
Applications for direct issue of Mainland driving licences on the strength of Hong Kong driving licences are processed by the Vehicle Control Offices of GDPSD. TD does not possess records of the number of Hong Kong residents who have been directly issued with Mainland driving licences without test. According to the figures provided by GDPSD, about 140,000 Hongkong people were issued with Mainland driving licences for small vehicles as at the end of 2011.
Hong Kong residents who are holders of valid full Hong Kong driving licences may apply for direct issue of Mainland driving licences for small vehicles without test, provided that they meet the relevant requirements of the Mainland, such as age and physical conditions. Applicants should bring along their Hong Kong Identity Cards, Home Visit Permits or passports, Hong Kong driving licences and photographs, etc., and approach the licensing counters of any Vehicle Control Offices of GDPSD in person to complete the formalities.
Application procedures and requirements for cross-boundary vehicles are in part (b) and (c) above.
Ends/Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:01
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