Did you know: “metal wrapped in skin” is a nickname Hong Kongers give to all motorcycles? The reason being that in a car crash, motorcyclists and their passengers are more likely to get injured. Is there truth to this nickname? If so, how do we avoid traffic accidents? Moreover, what do we do once an accident happens? Today at Kwiksure, we’ll get to the bottom of just how dangerous it is to drive motorcycles in Hong Kong.
Traffic accidents involving motorcycles are few in number
Looking at the Transport Department (TD)’s statistics, you can see that motorcycles are involved in very few accidents. In 2019, there were 2,678 cases of road accidents involving motorcycles, compared to a total of 9,310 for private cars. With that said, there have always been fewer motorbikes on the road (58,937 registered licenses) than private cars (573,932). So, we need to take into account the number of licensed vehicles on the road.
Generally speaking, the accident rate is higher in motorcycles than in private cars. Per 1,000 licensed motorcycles, the accident rate is 47.1% versus 16.3% for licensed cars. As for per million kilometers traveled, the accident rate for motorbikes is 6.82% whereas it’s only 1.46% for private cars.
TD published a report on the number of injuries and deaths in drivers, sorted by circumstances of injury and vehicle types. In 2019, there were 2,461 injuries and fatalities involving motorbikes. Motorcyclists were injured or died in a whopping 91.9% of these cases. As for private cars, the numbers were 3,157 cases of death and among those, 33.91% were injured or diseased.
| |
Motorcycle
|
Private cars
|
|
Number of licensed vehicles
|
58,937
|
573,932
|
|
Cases of traffic accidents
|
2,678
|
9,310
|
|
Cases of injuries or fatalitiess
|
2,461
|
3,157
|
|
Driver injury and fatality rate
|
91.9%
|
33.91%
|
|
Accident rate per 1,000 licensed vehicles
|
47.1%
|
16.3%
|
|
Accident rate per million kilometers
|
6.82%
|
1.46%
|
