Minibus-truck crash: Mandatory seat belt use must be enforced to avoid more road tragedies like Pat Heung, expert says
Enforcement of mandatory seat belt rules occurs in city centre but ‘lax’ in rural areas: Industry body
Hong Kong is facing mounting calls for greater enforcement of the largely ignored seat belt rule on minibuses after Friday’s horrific road accident that killed four people, including a three-month-old girl, and left 14 injured.
It’s believed that most passengers were not wearing seat belts on the green public light bus when it collided with a truck at the intersection of Kam Sheung Road and Tung Wui Road in Pat Heung, New Territories.
Police yesterday charged the truck driver, 70-year-old Cheung Man-leung, with dangerous driving causing death. While green minibuses on the route are fitted with seat belts, passengers rarely use them – a problem across the city because of lax enforcement.
“It would help if the authorities would step up patrols over whether people would put their seat belts on,” said Eddie Wong Chung-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association.
Safety regulations were introduced to make wearing seatbelts mandatory after a minibus crash in North Point in 2004 killed two.
From 2011 to 2014 September, there were 5,448 prosecutions of minibus passengers who failed to put their seat belts on — fines for breaking the seatbelt rule can be up to three months in jail or $5,000.