Road Safety is one of the Commissioner's Operational Priorities in 2008. In the first five months of this year, the number of pedestrians killed in traffic accidents increased by 44 per cent to 49, from 34 in the same period last year. Of these 49 victims, 65 per cent were over the age of 60.

In view of this traffic accident trend and the need to engage the elderly community to heighten their road safety awareness, Traffic Branch Headquarters and Traffic Regions organised a Kick-off Pedestrian Road Safety Campaign for the Elderly on June 8 at the Indoor Gymnasium of the Police Sports and Recreation Club.

The aim of this campaign was to disseminate road safety messages and drive home proper ways of using roads to the elderly and enlisting the support of youngsters to help the elderly cross roads. It is hoped that the participants and the media will spread road safety messages to other elderly so as to reduce the number of traffic accidents involving senior citizens.

The ceremony was participated by over 400 senior citizens from various elderly service centres. Senior Superintendent (Administration) of Traffic Branch Headquarters, Ms Chu Ming-po; the Hospital Authority's Chief Manager (Infection, Emergency and Contingency), Dr Liu Shao-haei, and artistes Mr Woo Fung, Ms Tse Suet-sum and Ms Lee Hong-kum, officiated at the ceremony. The three artistes were also appointed as Road Safety Ambassadors of the year at the ceremony and made an appeal to the audience.

Publicity and education

The ceremony featured road safety quiz, eyesight and hearing tests, Cantonese opera song singing and performances by elderly and children, all of which were aimed at publicising the importance of complying with traffic rules and following the tips on prevention of traffic accidents. Moreover, through the dialogue between the artistes and Dr Liu, the elderly learned, in an interesting way, how to prevent traffic accidents caused by health problems. The health check-up also served as a useful tool for the elderly to detect early symptoms of potential illnesses, such as osteoporosis.

Other organisations participating at the ceremony included Kowloon Motor Bus, CityBus and New World First Bus, whose staff showed the road safety measures taken in consideration of the elderly. 8tv8 TV channel also attended the ceremony to prepare a TV documentary on road safety for the elderly.

Distribution of road safety gift packs

One of the elderly participants, Mr Chan, said after the ceremony, "I love the reflexive stickers which can be stuck on my body. I also found the event enjoyable and meaningful in raising my awareness of road safety. To my surprise, my hearing was not as good as I thought so I need to pay more attention when crossing roads and consult a doctor later for a detailed check-up."

Indeed, the ceremony served as the start of a territory-wide pedestrian road safety campaign held between June 8 and 22. During the first week, road safety leaflets were distributed by Regional Road Safety Teams and Road Safety Patrol to pedestrians at various locations throughout the territory with a view to heightening public awareness of road safety. Offenders were given verbal warnings in the first week whilst stringent enforcement action would be taken in the subsequent week.

The Hospital Authority's Dr Liu Shao-haei and artistes Mr Woo Fung, Ms Tse Suet-sum and Ms Lee Hong-kum officate at the kick-off ceremony

The three artistes conducting a road safety quiz with the elderly