XN000022-1985-01-01 — Page 3

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1985

ABOUT 8 000 YOUNGSTERS FROM DIFFERENT SECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY ATTENDED TODAY'S OPENING CEREMONY AND ENJOYED THE PERFORMANCES BY MORE THAN 2 000 YOUTHS FROM SOME 40 ORGANISATIONS AND SCHOOLS IN HONG KONG.

THE UNITED NATIONS HAS DESIGNATED 1985 AS THE IYY TO HIGHLIGHT THE SPECIFIC NEEDS AND ASPIRATIONS OF YOUNG PEOPLE.

THE IYY PROGRAMME IN HONG KONG WILL BE BASED LARGELY ON ACTIVITIES SPONSORED BY A WIDE VARIETY OF LOCAL YOUTH-ORIENTED ORGANISATIONS, WITH ABOUT 300 EVENTS TO BE HELD THROUGHOUT THE

YEAR.

LARGE NUMBER OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AT ROAD JUNCTIONS *****

A LARGE NUMBER OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS TOOK PLACE AT ROAD JUNCTIONS, ACCORDING TO A TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT REPORT.

IN 1983, 5 072 ACCIDENTS OCCURRED AT ROAD JUNCTIONS, REPRESENTING MORE THAN 30 PER CENT OF ALL ROAD ACCIDENTS. OF THESE 65 WERE FATAL WHILE 1 632 RESULTED IN SERIOUS INJURIES AND 3 375, IN SLIGHT INJURIES.

THE FIGURES ARE REVEALED IN THE ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT STATISTICS (1983)+, COMPILED BY TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT'S ROAD SAFETY DIVISION.

VEHICLES AND PEDESTRIANS APPROACH ROAD JUNCTIONS FROM DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS AND TURNS, AND COULD THUS CREATE CONFLICTS BETWEEN STREAMS OF TRAFFIC AND INCREASE THE RISK OF PEDESTRIANS' AND DRIVERS' SAFETY, MR K.S. CHAN, SENIOR ENGINEER OF THE ROAD SAFETY DIVISION, EXPLAINED.

+AND WITH THE RELATIVELY SHORT STREETS AND THE LARGE NUMBER OF ROAD JUNCTIONS IN HONG KONG, THE CHANCES OF JUNCTION ACCIDENTS ARE ESPECIALLY HIGH, HE SAID.

+TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SCHEMES CAN BE INTRODUCED TO REDUCE TRAFFIC CONFLICTS AND ENGINEERING MEASURES IMPLEMENTED TO IMPROVE THE ROAD SURFACE AND DRIVER SIGHT LINE, BUT IT DEPENDS LARGELY ON HOW CAREFUL AND PATIENT ROAD USERS ARE TO KEEP ACCIDENTS TO A MINIMUM.

+MANY PEDESTRIANS START TO CROSS AS SOON AS THEY SEE CARS STOP IN ONE LANE, UNAWARE THAT TRAFFIC IN OTHER LANES OF THE SAME CARRIAGEWAY MAY BE ALLOWED TO PROCEED. SOME CROSS AT THE MOST CONVENIENT ARM OF THE JUNCTION, RATHER THAN TAKING A LONGER BUT SAFER WALK VIA DESIGNATED PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS.

+OTHERS SIMPLY DO NOT OBEY TRAFFIC SIGNALS AND ARE KNOCKED DOWN BY MOTORISTS WHO ARE OFTEN PREOCCUPIED IN LOOKING FOR AN OPENING IN THE TRAFFIC.

/+IT IS