About a third of Hong Kong road fatalities involve elderly pedestrians failing to follow traffic rules
- Police study shows among 113 deaths caused by 107 road accidents last year, 34 involved elderly pedestrians
- Almost 80 per cent of mishaps happened when victim failed to follow traffic lights or crossed road at undesignated spots
Nearly a third of fatal road accidents in Hong Kong last year involved elderly pedestrians, with most of the cases taking place when victims failed to follow traffic rules, according to police.
A study from the road safety unit of the Hong Kong police force showed that among the 113 deaths caused by 107 road accidents last year, 34 involved elderly pedestrians.
That was 14 cases fewer than the year before, but Andy Tay, chief inspector of the road safety unit, said that one avoidable accident is one too many.
“Overall, [the figures] are quite steady, with a slight decrease, but you can see that elderly pedestrians are still the biggest category of traffic accident fatalities,” Tay said.
Many of the fatalities could have been avoided if drivers and pedestrians had practised correct road safety protocols, he added.
The study showed that almost 80 per cent of the 34 fatal road accidents involving elderly people happened when the victim failed to follow traffic lights or crossed the road at undesignated spots.