Traffic Accidents

  In Hong Kong, traffic moves on the left. During the daytime, traffic congests Hong Kong’s urban areas. Each year, about 14000 drivers, passengers, and pedestrians are injured or killed traffic accidents in Hong Kong.

  Speed limits are 50 kilometers per hour in urban areas and 80 kilometers per hour on highways unless otherwise marked.

  The law requests drivers and all passengers in vehicles to put on the seat belts both in the front and the back seats. The enforcement of this law has been proved effectively recently as the rate of survival in traffic accident has increased substantially.

  The maximum penalty for dangerous driving causing death is a fine of HK$50000, imprisonment for 5 years and disqualification from driving for not less than 2 years on first conviction. At the scene of a traffic accident, drivers are required to go through a simple test for the possible influence of alcohol. Any driver found exceeding the prescribed limit of blood alcohol level may face prosecution under Hong Kong law.

Why seat belts can lower the degree of injury in traffic accidents?

  In traffic accidents, drivers or passengers can still keep in uniform motion by their own inertia. Without the seat belt, they may get thrown out of the vehicle through the windshield and get seriously injured. Secondly, the seat belt extends the time for stopping. The change in momentum in a longer period of time results in a smaller average force acting on the passenger.

How the influence of alcohol affects the stopping distance of a vehicle in a traffic accident?

  The influence of alcohol lowers the driver’s alertless and prolongs is reaction time in a traffic accident. Therefore the thinking distance is much elongated. The total stopping distance is therefore longer.