Two vehicles crash as drivers pick up items from car floors
A car crashed into a flowerbed, and a taxi overturned in two accidents in Tseung Kwan O yesterday. Five people were injured when the drivers lost control as they tried to pick up items that had dropped to the floor of their vehicles.
In the first accident, which happened at about 12.15am, a car travelling along Po Hong Road outside Po Tsui Park slammed into a flowerbed at the junction with Po Lam Road North. A police spokeswoman said the accident happened when the driver picked up a water bottle that had fallen to the floor.
The driver, 30, and his four passengers - three men and a woman - were treated for minor injuries at Tseung Kwan O Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
About two hours later, a taxi rammed into a tree and overturned in King Ling Road near Choi Ming Court. Neither the 49-year-old driver nor his female passenger were injured.
The police spokeswoman said the driver was trying to retrieve a towel from the floor of his cab when it crashed.
Breathalyser tests showed neither driver had been drinking.
Meanwhile, police will launch a two-week campaign today to promote safe cycling. This comes as the number of traffic accidents involving cycles rose by 5.7 per cent to 372 in the first three months of this year from 352 in the same period last year.
One cyclist was killed and 339 injured in this year's 372 accidents. Three cyclists were killed and 303 hurt in the 352 accidents in the same period last year.
In the first week of the campaign, officers will distribute leaflets in areas popular with cyclists, including railway stations, cycling tracks and shops that use bicycles to deliver food. Offenders will be given verbal warnings, and stringent action will be taken against offenders from April 23 to 29.
'Cyclists are obliged to obey all traffic laws which apply to drivers, and are subject to the Road Traffic Ordinance,' the spokeswoman said.
