Before officers could track it down, the van collided with an oncoming taxi outside the Police Officers' Club in Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay.

The 61-year-old cabbie, who had no passengers at the time of the crash, was trapped in the wreckage and had to be freed by firefighters.

Both drivers were injured but conscious when they were taken to Ruttonjee Hospital, where they were in stable condition.

The vehicles were towed to a government plant in Quarry Bay for examination.

Police said the van driver was unfit to be interviewed.

An officer said it was possible the van entered the eastbound section of the Island Eastern Corridor from Tong Shui Road in North Point, more than 2.5 kilometres from the site of the collision.

Police were investigating whether the delivering van was travelling over the speed limit of 50km/h in Gloucester Road at the time it smashed into the taxi.

The van driver has been released on bail of HK$5,000 and told to report back to police next month.

The investigation is being carried out by officers from the Hong Kong Island traffic unit.

'At this stage, there is no indication that the man was driving under the influence of an illegal drug. Our investigation is still continuing,' the officer said.

Secretary for Transport Eva Cheng said proposed legislation on driving under the influence of drugs could be tabled for discussion in the Legislative Council during the second quarter of the year. Speaking at the launch of a safe-driving and health campaign for commercial vehicle drivers yesterday, Cheng said police had stepped up enforcement action to combat driving under the influence of drugs, setting up roadblocks more than 6,700 times last year, double the figure for 2009.

Half the drivers who were involved in the 84 drug-related road accidents last year had been prosecuted, she said.

Police figures showed that 1,024 drink-drivers were arrested in the first 11 months of last year. There were 1,036 drink-driving arrests in the whole of 2009.

Tougher drink-driving penalties and a new offence of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm with a maximum penalty of seven years in prison have been introduced since Legco passed amendments to the road-traffic safety law last month.

The new offence and tougher penalty came amid public concern over the January 2009 accident in Lok Ma Chau, in which six men were killed by a drunken truck driver.

The new law instituted a three-tier penalty system. The higher the alcohol concentration level of the driver, the longer the minimum period of disqualification.

Six types of drugs - heroin, ketamine, methylamphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and MDMA - are also listed in the new law.

The maximum penalty for dangerous driving will be increased by 50 per cent if these drugs are found in a driver's blood and urine samples.

Against the flow

The van collided with the taxi in Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay

The distance in kilometres the van is thought to have travelled on the wrong side of the road before the crash is: 2.5

Police figures show this number of drunk drivers were arrested in the first 11 months of last year: 1,024