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MR. RONNIE Wong Man-chiu (in Cantonese):—I think you have to look at it both ways. Apart from monitoring by USD staff, it is also important for DB members and members of public to reflect the utilisation rates to us. The improvement project started in 1989 and with the lapse of time, probably some of the parks and playgrounds are due for another round of improvement. I can get the information from USD on whether the utilisation rates have improved after upgrading for the benefit of Mr. PAO.
2. THE HONOURABLE LI WAH-MING asked the following question (in Cantonese): From April to June this year, the Urban Council was involved in 15 civil cases concerning traffic accidents. In 8 of these cases, the Council was the plaintiff and the amount claimed for damages was $67,901.20. However, the actual compensation received was only $17,432.98. As for the remaining 7 cases, the full amount claimed by the public, i.e. $102,342.60 was paid by the Council. On balance, the Council had to disburse $84,909.62 to the public in this quarter of the year as compensation. I would like to ask:
(a) Has the Department reviewed whether the driving skill of its drivers in general is deteriorating?
(b) Will the driver be subject to disciplinary action if he is involved in an accident which results in payment of compensation by the Council?
(c) Compared with past records, are the traffic accidents for this quarter particularly serious? Are the compensations paid relatively high?
MR. PAUL YOUNG TZE-KONG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ADMINISTRATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):—This three-part question concerns traffic accidents involving UC vehicles and their civil claims. The first part enquires if the department has reviewed whether the driving skill of its drivers in general is deteriorating.
The driving skill of UC drivers is monitored on an on-going basis by the Department. A widely accepted indicator to reflect driving skill is 'kilometer per traffic accident' (i.e. total kilometer run divided by number of traffic accidents). Kilometer per traffic accident for UC vehicles in the past 5 quarters starting from April 1993 up to June 1994 are 39,760.61, 33,717.24, 42,071.57, 43,576.55 and 42,740.49 respectively. Judging from these figures, there is no trend of deterioration in the driving skill of UC drivers. Furthermore, according to the Government Land Transport Agency (GLTA), the average kilometer run per accident for all government vehicles in 1993 was 40,850.26. The corresponding figure for USD vehicles was 42,528 which is slightly better than the average.
The second part of the questions asks whether the driver will be subject to disciplinary action if he is involved in an accident which results in payment of compensation by the Council.
A driver will be disciplined if he is found to be at fault, regardless of whether the accident results in payment of compensation by the Council. Generally speaking, USD follows the GLTA 'Internal Guidelines on Disciplinary Actions on Traffic Offences committed by Government Drivers'. The disciplinary actions covered by the Guidelines include verbal advice, verbal warning, written warning and formal disciplinary action.
The third part of the question asks if the traffic accidents for the April to June 1994 quarter are particularly serious and if the compensations paid are relatively high.
The number of traffic accidents in the past 5 quarters, starting from April 1993 to June 1994 are 56, 70, 56, 49, 51 respectively, including 1 fatal accident in April 1993 to June 1993 quarter and 2 fatal accidents in the October 1993 to December 1993 quarter. Judging from the figures, the situation for the April 1994 to June 1994 quarter is not particularly serious. As regards the amount of compensation paid in respect of each claim against the Council, payment will only be made after the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services has confirmed that it is fair and reasonable. In the past two quarters, starting from January to June 1994, the total amount of compensation paid was $89,138.50 and $102,342.60 respectively. When compared with the total amount of compensation paid during the period from December 1992 to December 1993, which amounted to $529,491.57, there is no reason to suggest that the compensation payments made during the quarter between April and June 1994 are on the high side. Besides, the amount of compensation paid during a quarter does not relate to the number of traffic accidents occurring in that quarter because of the time taken to investigate the accidents and subsequent court proceedings.
THE HONOURABLE Li Wah-ming (in Cantonese):—I would like to ask two follow-up questions. First of all, I would like Mr. YUNG to give some explanation on the figures given in paragraph seven because the comparison isn't quite fair. From January to June 1994, the compensation amounted to about $191,480 but the figure used to compare this half-year period was a one-year figure, from 1992 to 1993. On the basis of that calculation, $190,000 is not too much as compared with $520,000. Can you provide me with a realistic figure for six months?
Secondly, does the Council have any accurate figures on the number of drivers who have reported their part-time engagement elsewhere? As outside work may affect their daily performance, do we have any means to find out whether our drivers are engaged in part-time jobs if they have not reported it to us?
MR. PAUL YOUNG TZE-KONG (in English):—I do not have the exact figures on the corresponding periods but I can provide you the quarterly figures for 1993 and 1994 that are available. Please note that there is a change in reporting systems in January 1994.
In December 1992 to February 1993, the compensation paid was $34,556. The amount paid for the quarter from March 1993 to May 1993 was $167,213.70 and no compensation was paid from June 1993 to August 1993.
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