I refer to the letters from Danny Thurston and 'Name and Address Supplied' (Sunday Morning Post, February 18), concerning seat belts in the rear of taxis.
The regulations brought into effect on January 1 require all taxis registered on or after that date to be fitted with rear seat belts and all taxi passengers to wear a seat belt where one is provided.
This measure was introduced after a thorough examination of local and overseas experiences, which revealed clear evidence that the compulsory wearing of seat belts reduces casualties resulting from traffic accidents.
For example, the introduction in Hong Kong of compulsory wearing of rear seat belts in private cars, in June 1996, resulted in a 17 per cent reduction in the number of rear-seat casualties in the following year.
Similar reductions in associated accident-related casualties have followed each introduction of seat-belt-wearing requirements.
The simple message is that if there is a seat belt available, passengers should wear it. This may save them from serious injury, or even death, in an accident.
The Transport Department is aware that a small percentage of taxi passengers, who are of above-average size, have found it difficult or even impossible to wear the seat belt provided because it is not long enough.