TNAG-1735-FCO40-2448-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 64

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 1 June 1988

SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT: Sir, Government is concerned about the increasing trend of traffic accidents involving light goods vehicles. Measures to tackle the problem have been drawn up. These were discussed last month with the Transport Advisory Committee and supported for early implementation.

First, drivers of light goods vehicle with less than three years experience have been identified as the target group. Traffic accident statistics show that their involvement rate is three times higher than that of the more experienced drivers. In view of this, it is intended to stop giving new private car driving licence holders automatic approval to drive a light goods vehicle. Instead, such approval will not be given until the driver has obtained a licence for three years.

Government will also tighten up the inspection requirements for light goods vehicles. As a first step, all six-year old light goods vehicles below 1.9 tonnes, which account for over 80 per cent of the light goods vehicle fleet, will be included in the private car inspection scheme for annual inspection. The second step is to inspect all goods vehicles annually when the new Kowloon Bay Vehicle Inspection Centre is fully operational in 1991.

As regards existing penalties for reckless driving under the Road Traffic Ordinance, these are already quite severe and there is no intention at present to amend the law. A person who has committed the offence is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of $20,000 and to imprisonment for three years, and on summary conviction to a fine of $10,000 and to imprisonment for 12 months. Where reckless driving causes the death of another person, the penalties will increase to a fine of $25,000 and five years imprisonment on conviction on indictment, and on summary conviction to a fine of $12,500 and to imprison- ment for two years.

In addition to these penalties, the offender shall be disqualified in a second or subsequent conviction, and may be disqualified in a first offence in serious cases. Also, under the driving offence-points scheme, a person found guilty of reckless driving will attract the maximum 10 points.

MRS. FAN: Sir, although the statistics show that inexperienced drivers of less than three years' experience are involved in accidents more frequently than those who have more experience, it does not necessarily follow that drivers who have been holding a licence for a longer period would have better driving skill. So, will the Government consider introducing a separate driving test for light goods vehicles?

SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT: Sir, I entirely take Mrs. FAN's point but a start has to be made between the experienced drivers and the inexperienced drivers and from past statistics it does indicate that the first two or three years are rather vulnerable in terms of the driving experience of drivers. So, we want to deal with those with less than three years' experience as a start. We are also considering whether it is possible in terms of both staffing and resources to introduce a separate category of registration for such goods vehicles. This might

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