TRANSPORT
Road Safety
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There was a welcome reduction in road accidents and casualties, but the trend began to slow down during the year, and efforts to maintain the improvements in road safety were continued.
Traffic accidents involving injury decreased by two per cent in 1986. There were 14 610 accidents, of which 4 100 were serious and 280 fatal, compared with 14 920 in the previous year (4 360 serious, 290 fatal). In-depth investigations were carried out at 124 traffic accident blackspots to identify accident causes. Remedial accident prevention measures were recommended at 69 of these locations. Remedial measures, when implemented, have been shown to reduce accidents by 28 per cent on average.
Road safety campaigns continued to play an important role in the reduction of traffic accidents. The major themes of the 1986 campaigns were parents' and teachers' role in educating children on road safety. Emphasis was also put on promoting elderly pedestrian safety, cycling safety, and defensive driving on high capacity roads. Apart from using posters, announcements of public interest and leaflets as publicity media, four issues of a 'Road Safety Quarterly' were produced with a wide distribution, through which the road safety message was further disseminated. Also, a new Road Users Code, aimed at promoting safety for all road users, was completed and will be published early in 1987.
By the end of 1986, the Road Safety Association of Hong Kong operated 228 School Road Safety Patrols with the object of ensuring the safety of school children on their
way to and from school. The Road Safety Council, an advisory body, continued to co-ordinate all road safety matters in the territory.
A second off-street driver training centre is due to open in Sha Tin in 1987, and will provide mandatory off-street training for learner motorcyclists.
Legislation was enacted to modify the driving offence points system so that the number of points awarded for speeding increased with the severity of the offence, and to regulate the use of motorised carts.
Improvement and Expansion of Public Transport
The improvement of personal mobility through the expansion and improvement of public transport services continued to be one of the principal elements in the government's internal transport policy.
In May 1986, the extension of the Island Line of the Mass Transit Railway westward from Admiralty to Sheung Wan was brought into operation, resulting in a major increase in the efficiency of transport services along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island. A further extension of the Mass Transit Railway will be carried out to link the Kwun Tong line to Tai Koo Shing as part of the Eastern Harbour Crossing project.
Construction of the Light Rail Transit system by KCRC to cater for the demand for travel within Tuen Mun and Yuen Long in the north-western part of the New Territories began. The possibility of further extensions of the system in the New Territories is being examined by the corporation.
Improvements in bus services were concentrated in the New Territories and in the south of Hong Kong Island. The standard and level of bus services continued to improve through more effective planning and monitoring, with operators maintaining reasonable profit margins at comparatively low fares.
Competition from both road and rail transport has continued to erode the patronage of cross-harbour ferry services, and the planned opening of the Eastern Harbour Crossing in 1990 is predicted to result in further patronage declines. As a result, a phased rationalisa-