The Social Welfare Department of Hong Kong paid out 151.1 million Hong Kong dollars (19.37 million US dollars) from the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance (TAVA) Fund in the 2003/04 financial year to help traffic accident victims or their dependents.

The total amount of assistance paid has decreased by 0.1 percent as compared to 151.3 million in the previous year.

According to the 2003/2004 TAVA Fund annual report, 8,018 applications were received during the period, compared with 8,079 in the previous year, a decrease of 0.8 percent.

Police figures showed that there was a decrease of 10.6 percent in the number of traffic casualties from 20,271 in 2002/2003 to 18,131 in the year reported. However, the rate of application for TAVA increased from 39.9 percent to 44.2 percent.

"The increase in application rate indicates that more people are aware of their right to apply for assistance in the event of traffic accidents," a department spokesman said on Saturday.

The highest award of the year amounting to 148,680 Hong Kong dollars was granted to the surviving dependents of a fatal case.

The department processed 87 serious traffic accident cases during the year.

The accident resulting in the largest number of victims occurred on July 10, 2003, at Tuen Mun Road in Ting Kau where a bus fell from a flyover, killing 21 and injuring 20 passengers. As at March 31, 2004, a total of 2.95 million Hong Kong dollars had been paid out under the scheme to the victims or their dependents.

"In major traffic accidents, staff from the TAVA section would take the initiatives to contact victims or their dependents immediately to help them apply at an early date," the spokesman said.

The spokesman explained that the TAVA scheme was designed to provide speedy financial assistance to victims or their dependents on a non-means-tested basis.

Source: Xinhua