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Following is a question by the Hon Tang Ka-piu and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (November 4):
Question:
It has been reported that a number of cases of drivers of passenger vehicles being attacked by passengers have recently occurred, arousing concerns about the personal safety of such drivers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of work injury and death reports involving passenger vehicle drivers being attacked by passengers which were received by the Labour Department, the Transport Department and the Police in each of the past five years;
(2) of the number of reports received by the authorities in the past five years about passenger vehicle drivers being attacked by passengers, together with a breakdown by the class of vehicles; the number of such cases in which the Police conducted criminal investigations, and the penalties generally imposed by the court on the convicted persons;
(3) whether it will consider amending the relevant legislation to raise the penalties on attacking drivers of passenger vehicles, so as to enhance the protection for the personal safety of such drivers; whether it knows the measures currently put in place by various public transport operators to prevent the drivers employed by them from being attacked by passengers;
(4) whether drivers who have sustained injuries from attacks by passengers are eligible to apply for the interim maintenance grant under the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Scheme; if they are eligible, of the total amount of grant approved in respect of such applications in the past five years, and the average amount granted for each application; whether the authorities will consider raising the level of such grant and providing extra assistance for self-employed drivers of passenger vehicles;
(5) whether it knows the number of claims indemnified in the past five years that were filed under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) by drivers who had sustained injuries, or by the families of drivers who had died, due to attacks by passengers, and set out a breakdown of the number by class of vehicles, and the total amount of compensation involved; and
(6) whether the authorities have put forward to franchised bus companies, public transport operators and taxi associations improvement measures and proposals for the protection of drivers' personal safety?
Reply:
President,
We note that there are a few cases of drivers of public transport services being assaulted whilst on duty in recent months. The Government attaches great importance to all cases of violence. Assaulting another person (including a driver) is a criminal offence. Irrespective of the location at which an assault takes place and the parties involved, the Government strongly condemns and will not tolerate such illegal acts. The law enforcement agencies will take enforcement action to maintain law and order. On the other hand, employers have the responsibility to provide a safe working environment for their employees. In particular, public transport operators should step up the protection of their drivers who interact closely with members of the public and passengers every day.
The consolidated responses from relevant bureaux and departments to the various parts of the Hon Tang Ka-piu's question are as follows:
(1) and (2) Cases of work injury of drivers of passenger vehicle are handled by the Labour Department (LD) while cases of assault are followed up by the Police. Having enquired with the two departments, we understand that LD does not maintain any breakdown of statistics on cases of work injury or duty-related death by job category, and that the Police do not have a breakdown of cases of assault on drivers of passenger vehicles. Nevertheless, the Police shall launch investigations into all incidents involving assault in a bid to bring the culprits to justice, regardless of the victim's occupation or background.
(3) and (6) There are various legislative provisions which criminalise the acts of assaulting another person, and our law enforcement agencies may take action in reliance on them. Such provisions are applicable to public transport drivers. In case of a driver being assaulted, our law enforcement agencies will consider taking out prosecution against the suspect(s) under the appropriate provisions (e.g. the offence of wounding under the Offences Against the Person Ordinance, or the offence of fighting in public under the Public Order Ordinance) having regard to the facts of the case. The offender may be sentenced to imprisonment upon conviction. Meanwhile, the Police have also been offering crime prevention advice to the public, relevant parties and the trades concerned in light of the trends of various types of crimes. To tackle crimes more commonly found on public transport, the Police will put up crime prevention posters inside the compartments or at stations. For cases such as taxi robberies, the Police will regularly disseminate information about the time and locations of such crimes to the trade in a bid to heighten drivers' vigilance.
In addition, certain laws relating to public transport services, such as the Public Bus Services Regulations and the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations, include provisions on the conduct of passengers to ensure safe driving and smooth delivery of service.
From the public transport services perspective, the Transport Department (TD) is very concerned about cases of drivers being assaulted whilst on duty and has accordingly requested the operators to put in place appropriate safety measures. All franchised bus companies would provide trainings to their bus captains to enhance protection for drivers' personal safety. Such trainings would include advice on how to handle situations where personal safety is at stake, as well as on how to handle passengers' complaints and grievances so as to minimise the chance of conflicts. The franchised bus companies would also provide extra support (such as from the legal side) to bus captains having regard to the circumstances of each case. They have started to install closed circuit television (CCTV) systems at bus termini and inside bus compartments to monitor service operation and the situation inside bus compartments. If necessary, the companies will assist in investigation by offering witness statements and CCTV footage to the Police.
Some green minibus operators have also provided guidelines on emergency response to their drivers. Drivers have been reminded to seek immediate assistance when under threat and report to the Police. In the past, TD had advised the taxi trade on the installation of anti-assault partition inside taxis. The department will continue to make use of various forums, such as regular meetings with trade representatives of public light buses and taxis, to remind the trades to adopt adequate measures to protect the personal safety of drivers, as well as to remind the drivers to pay attention to safety and avoid confrontations with passengers. TD will continue to maintain close liaison with the trades and provide advice on improvement measures as appropriate.
(4) The Social Welfare Department advises that the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance (TAVA) Scheme is set up under the Traffic Accident Victims (Assistance Fund) Ordinance. Under the Ordinance, a relevant traffic accident has to be one that causes the death of or injury to any person as the direct result of the use or presence of a vehicle on a road. Therefore, incidents involving drivers sustaining injury from assaults by passengers do not fall within the ambit of the TAVA Scheme.
(5) LD advises that it does not keep breakdown of statistics on employees' compensation cases relating to work injury or duty-related death by work type, and hence cannot provide the information requested.
Ends/Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Issued at HKT 11:30
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