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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Elizabeth Quat and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (April 22):
Question:
It has been reported that on March 30 this year, a fatal traffic accident occurred in Kwun Tong in which a nearside front tyre of a moving public light bus (PLB) suddenly spun off and hit a female passer-by to death. Some experts suspect that the wheel hub assembly of the PLB concerned was broken due to metal fatigue, causing the tyre to come loose. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that owners of commercial vehicles are required to make arrangements each year for their vehicles to undergo examinations at vehicle examination centres (annual examinations), of the number of commercial vehicles receiving annual examinations vehicle repair orders issued by vehicle examiners in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by the inspection items involved in such repair orders;
(2) whether the wear and tear condition of wheel hub assemblies is one of the inspection items covered by annual examinations for commercial vehicles under the existing legislation; if it is not, of the reasons for that; and
(3) whether it will explore imposing a requirement that commercial vehicles reaching a specified age must have the wheel hub assemblies replaced before vehicle licences may be renewed; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the Dr Hon Elizabeth Quat's question is as follows:
(1) Over the past three years, the Transport Department (TD) has conducted a total of 503 930 vehicle examinations on commercial vehicles (i.e. buses, light buses, taxis, goods vehicles, special purpose vehicles and trailers). 24 131 (around 5 per cent) of these examinations failed to pass the requirements and the relevant vehicles were required to undergo re-examination. The TD has issued vehicle repair orders to vehicles that need to be re-examined. A breakdown by the inspection items involved in such repair orders is as follows:
Item# Year
----- ----
2012 2013 2014
------ ------ ------
Braking system 4 631 4 636 4 552
Body accessories 4 149 4 832 3 917
Suspension and steering 3 350 3 436 2 938
systems
Engine and exhaust system 2 060 2 439 2 429
Lighting system 1 934 2 030 2 131
Chassis 761 1 003 811
Wheels/Tyre damage 861 949 927
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#The same vehicle may fail in more than one item.
(2) The annual vehicle examination of commercial vehicles currently conducted by the TD is generally similar to other international vehicle examination procedures. Items to be inspected include the conditions of wheels and tyres, and whether the wheel nuts/bolts of a vehicle are securely tightened. Wheels of commercial vehicles that are found to be in severe wear and tear may not pass the annual examination.
(3) Currently, the TD will inspect various vehicle components during the annual vehicle examination. If the vehicle components are found to be defective, the vehicle concerned will not pass the annual examination. Since the condition of a vehicle is affected by different factors and is not directly related to its mileage and age, it may not be justifiable to impose a mandatory requirement that commercial vehicles which have been in use on the road for a specified number of years should have their wheel hub assemblies replaced. The TD will continue to communicate with the transport trade through regular conferences, and remind vehicle owners and drivers of their responsibilities to pay attention to the conditions of their vehicles and undertake regular and proper maintenance, so as to ensure that the vehicles are kept in good condition and run safely on roads.
Ends/Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Issued at HKT 14:30
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