Hong Kong Road Safety Campaign Committee Sunday launched a two-month new round of publicity to promote a smart road use with a vision as "Zero accidents on the road, Hong Kong's goal."

The message of the campaign is "Stay alert. Be courteous and obey the law."

Chairman of the Committee Lawrence Yu appealed to the public at the launching ceremony that road safety is the responsibility of everyone and it is essential that the citizens all do what they can to help achieve "zero accidents" on Hong Kong's roads.

Yu noted that Hong Kong enjoys a good road safety record compared with other cities in the world. However, despite a drop of 19.5 percent compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, Hong Kong still saw 124 deaths in road accidents in the first nine months of 2004.

Many of the deaths involved pedestrians and drivers. The main cause of pedestrian accidents was crossing roads carelessly while accidents involving drivers were mainly caused by driving too close to the vehicle in front, speeding, careless lane changing and driving negligently.

Each incident of death costs Hong Kong government some 1.9 million HK dollars (244,000 US dollars) to follow up. This is not to mention the serious and permanent damage caused to the family and friends of those killed.

The Road Safety Council aims to generate and sustain road safety awareness in the community, said Yu.

The campaign will remind all road users including pedestrians, cyclists and passengers to exercise care and show concern for other road users, said Yu.

Source: Xinhua