Handling of Damaged Public Road Facilities in Accident

Public road facilities, e.g. lamp posts, railings and street signs, are Government properties and are generally maintained by the Highways Department. If any public road facilities are damaged in traffic accidents, the Government may make civil claims under the common law to recover the losses from the accountable driver. If encounter an accident with damaged public road facility, driver should stay calm, then check whether anyone is injured and call the police immediately. Under safe condition, driver can take pictures of the accident environment and the damaged facilities from different angles to protect the right in the follow-up investigation.

In general, the Government will follow the steps below to start the investigation and make claims towards the accountable driver:

1. The Hong Kong Police Force is responsible for traffic accident investigation and prosecution.
2. After receiving the investigation report from the Police Force, staff of the Highways Department will conduct site inspection to determine the scope of the required repair works.
3. The Highways Department will determine the compensation amount, which comprise the cost of the repair works as per the maintenance contract, and other expenditures such as departmental administrative fees and charges for Road Excavation Permit.
4. The Highways Department will then issue a demand note to the accountable driver to recover the losses.