Trends in road traffic accidents in Hong Kong from 1993 to 2002 are described. In 2003, Hong Kong had 522,912 licensed vehicles. From 1993 to 2002, the number of traffic accidents increased by 0.7%, but the number of fatal traffic accidents decreased by 52% and that of serious accidents by 8.5%. The number of casualties decreased by 1.5%. The road traffic accident rates of Hong Kong are compared with those of other major cities in the world. This comparison showed that Hong Kong has one of the lowest rates in terms of fatalities per million population and accidents per 1,000 population. Hong Kong has a comparatively high rate of fatalities and number of accidents per kilometre of road. This was attributed to the fact that Hong Kong has a short total length of roads and high road usage.
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