Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao yesterday said in Legislative Council that the government was considering whether to make laws to compel all truck drivers to instal video cameras to prevent accident while reversing.

Liao was answering to the legislators' questions whether the government would enact legislation on installation of close circuit television system on goods vehicles to ensure road safety.

There had not been a rise in the number of traffic accidents involving reversing goods vehicles in recent years, she replied.

During the first 10 months of this year the number of such accidents was 140, which is similar to the figures in the past few years, she said.

In the past three years, the average number of such accidents per year was 185, accounting for about 1.2 per cent of the total number of traffic accidents.

She said there had been actually a drop in the average number of traffic accidents involving reversing goods vehicles per year from 233 between 1997-99 to 185 between 2003-05.

There was a drop in the number of accidents after the bureau made it mandatory for all goods vehicles to install an automatic device starting from 1 April 2000 that would give audible warning to nearby pedestrians when the vehicle reverses, she said.

Under the current law goods vehicles are supposed to install other devices like reversing sensors which could help drivers to reverse safely, she said. However, she said not all types of goods vehicles were suitable for installation of reverse sensors, closed-circuit televisions or other video systems.

Installation of such devices on goods vehicles depended on the vehicle type and vehicle body form, she said.

"If we are to mandate all goods vehicles to be fitted with such devices, we will have to specify the related technical requirements and standards, so that people can comply with the law, and (government) departments can take enforcement actions effectively," she said.

She said many overseas countries did not mandate vehicles to install these devices. They were actively consulting the opinion with manufacturers of goods vehicles and these devices on whether and how the devices could be installed on different vehicles, she said.

Liao said it would be the responsibility of the Transport Department to work on improvements in road environment. She said vehicles had to reverse inevitably for access to some narrow roads in the older areas crammed with many buildings.

Also, it was difficult to implement measures to separate pedestrians and vehicles due to problems like land ownership constraints, she said.

The department had been liaising closely with the District Councils to identify road sections with potential risks for reversing vehicles in each district, she said.

The department would consider on a case-by-case basis whether it would be necessary to take additional measures to improve road environment, such as provision of facilities to separate pedestrians and vehicles and restrictions on access by certain types of vehicles, she said.