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The Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, called on transport trade members and commercial vehicle drivers to participate in the activities of the Safe Driving and Health Campaign and collaborate in enhancing road safety by raising professional drivers' awareness of safe driving and maintaining good health.
At a ceremony in support of the ongoing campaign today (November 20), Professor Cheung said that with the support of the transport trade and organisations, road safety has been enhanced. According to the traffic accident statistics, the number of deaths and severe casualties in traffic accidents decreased by 4 per cent in the first nine months of this year as compared with the corresponding period last year.
He pointed out that the Government attaches great importance to combating drink driving and drug driving. Upon the introduction of relevant legislative amendments in 2010 and 2012, the number of arrests related to the two offences has decreased. He reminded members of the public not to drive after drinking or taking drugs under any circumstances.
In addition, Professor Cheung pointed out that a proper driving attitude is essential to safe driving. He called on drivers to pay attention to the road situation and drive carefully and politely to prevent traffic accidents from happening.
He also reminded drivers that they should at all times stay alert to other road users, including cyclists and pedestrians, and give way to one another. Moreover, drivers should maintain a safe distance from cyclists.
This is the seventh consecutive year that the Transport Department (TD) has organised the Safe Driving and Health Campaign. The campaign aims to promote road safety by enhancing safe driving and health awareness among commercial vehicle drivers through a series of promotional activities.
The campaign this year has four main themes: observing good driving attitudes, respecting other road users, not driving after drinking or taking drugs, and maintaining good health at all times.
Commercial vehicle drivers can enjoy free health check-ups at designated medical centres in the territory through participation in the campaign. On the other hand, the TD will continue to disseminate road safety messages to commercial vehicle drivers through seminars and workshops, regular meetings with the public transport sector and free publications to the industry.
Other officiating guests at today's ceremony included the Commissioner for Transport, Mrs Ingrid Yeung; the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Wong Chi-hung; the Chairman of the Transport Advisory Committee, Mr Larry Kwok; and the Chairman of the Road Safety Campaign Committee of the Road Safety Council, Dr Eric Cheng.
Ends/Friday, November 20, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:55
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