Driver Eligibility and Fitness to Drive 駕駛人的資格及身體狀況
A driver must be at least 18 and must carry a valid driving licence when driving. The eyesight standard is being able to read a vehicle number plate at 23 metres in good daylight, and a driver who needs glasses to meet it must wear them. Good sunglasses may help in bright sunlight but should not be worn at night or in poor visibility. Do not drive if disability, illness, tiredness or emotional upset makes safe driving difficult, and avoid smoking at the wheel because it is a distraction.
Drink driving is a criminal offence, and even a small amount of alcohol can affect driving ability. The prescribed limit is 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood, or 67 milligrams per 100 millilitres of urine. Exceeding it leads to prosecution, and the penalty is more severe when the level is far above the limit.
Police may demand a screening breath test from a driver randomly stopped at a roadblock or other traffic enforcement check, involved in a traffic accident, who has committed a moving traffic offence, or suspected of drink driving. If the result indicates a level above the limit, the driver must provide breath, blood or urine specimens as required. Refusing or failing to do so without reasonable excuse is also an offence.
Driving a motor vehicle with any concentration of a specified illicit drug in the blood or urine is an offence. These drugs are heroin, cocaine, ketamine, methamphetamine, cannabis and MDMA. For other drugs, the test is whether they leave the driver incapable of having proper control of the vehicle, so consult a doctor, pharmacist or dentist if in doubt and ask for alternative medication when necessary. Police may request preliminary drug tests from a driver involved in an accident, who has committed a moving traffic offence, or suspected of driving under the influence of drugs. Refusing or failing to undergo the tests or provide specimens without reasonable excuse is an offence.
Passengers and Vehicle Safety Checks 乘客安排及車輛安全檢查
A front seat passenger should keep at least one quarter of a metre between the body and the dashboard. Passengers must sit on properly provided and secured seats, and their number must not exceed the seating capacity on the vehicle licence. A child under 3 need not be counted, and three children aged 3 or above and under 1.3 metres tall count as two passengers. Passengers should get in or out from the pavement or the side of the road, and must not open a door in a way that endangers anyone.
A driver who gets out to help passengers board or alight, or to load or unload goods, must first switch off the engine, engage first gear (manual) or park mode (automatic), and apply the parking brake.
A vehicle must have effective insurance and display a valid vehicle licence on the left-hand side of the windscreen. Regularly check the steering wheel, brakes (including the parking brake), lamps, windscreen wipers and washers, warning lights, instruments, doors and door latches, and keep the windscreen, windows, number plates and reflectors clean. Badly adjusted headlamps dazzle other drivers. Loads carried or towed must be secure and must not obstruct the driver's view. Never start or run the engine with the fuel tank cover removed.
The minimum tyre tread depth is 1 mm throughout at least three quarters of the breadth of the tread. Tyres must be inflated to the correct pressure, and cross-ply and radial-ply tyres must never be combined. Before using a driver assistance system, a driver must fully understand its functions, operation and limitations. While it is in use, the driver must still watch the road and keep both hands on the steering wheel, ready to resume manual control at once.
Seat Belts: Legal Requirements and Correct Use 安全帶的法定要求及正確使用
In private cars, taxis and public light buses, the driver and front and rear seat passengers must wear a seat belt if one is fitted. The belt must be an approved type and must securely fasten the wearer to the seat, and two or more people must not share one. A driver need not wear it while carrying out a manoeuvre involving reversing, such as a three-point turn or moving forward and reversing into a parking place. A private car driver must make sure all passengers wear any fitted seat belts.
The Commissioner for Transport may consider an exemption on a valid medical certificate from a doctor, but very few people qualify and no health condition, including pregnancy, brings automatic exemption. A pregnant woman should place the lap belt low, under the bump and snugly over the pelvis and upper thighs, with the shoulder strap between the breasts and above the bump. The belt must never lie over the abdomen.
When a belt is worn correctly, the lap strap lies across the top of the thighs and not the stomach, the diagonal strap crosses the middle of the shoulder, and the buckle sits at the side of the body. The straps must not be twisted or trapped. A smaller person whose belt crosses the neck can usually solve the problem with a booster seat. An uncomfortable belt must still be worn, because it is safer than travelling without one.
Wearing a seat belt can reduce the chance of death or serious injury by about half. A head-on collision between two vehicles each moving at 25 km/h produces an impact speed of 50 km/h, so belts matter at low speeds too. Check belts regularly. A worn, damaged or defective belt is illegal and should be replaced immediately. Putting clips on a seat belt seriously reduces its effectiveness and is also illegal.
Child Safety in Cars and Airbags 兒童乘車安全及安全氣袋
A child under 3 must use an approved child restraint device in the front seat of a private car, private light bus or goods vehicle. The same applies in the rear seat of a private car when such a device is available. A child aged 3 or above in a private car must use an ordinary seat belt if no child restraint device is available. A child must not be held in the arms or sit on the lap of a front seat passenger. Children are safer in the rear seats than in the front seats.
Choose by age and weight. A baby up to 12 months (or under 9 kg and unable to sit up unaided) should lie in a carrycot or infant carrier in the rear of the car. From 9 months to 4 years (or 9 to 18 kg), a child safety seat is best. From 3 to 12 years (or 15 to 36 kg), use a child harness, or an ordinary seat belt with a booster seat. Over 12 years (or above 36 kg), an ordinary seat belt can be used. Devices must be fitted correctly and securely according to the manufacturer's instructions.
An airbag supplements the seat belt system and cannot replace it. A seat belt holds the whole body in the seat and gives the most effective protection in all types of collision or roll-over accident, whereas airbags only function in particular collisions. An airbag can cushion the head and upper body, but it inflates very fast and with great force, so someone too close to it could be seriously hurt.
Drivers and passengers should keep a good distance from the airbag outlet, and no objects should be placed over the outlet or between it and the occupant. A young child in a rearward facing child restraint device must not be placed in a front passenger seat installed with an airbag. The child should sit in the rear using an approved device suited to their age and size.
Practice
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