The 30-year-old’s trip through Tseung Kwan O Tunnel was widely shared on social media

Police arrested a 30-year-old “foreign man” last night for driving an electric scooter through Tseung Kwan O Tunnel over the weekend.

Police say they “took the initiative” to track down and arrest the man after images of his trip were widely shared on social media. The man, thought to be a New Zealander, was found in Kwun Tong District and arrested for driving without a valid driving licence, driving an unregistered and unlicensed vehicle and driving without valid third-party insurance.

He was released on bail at around 3am this morning and must report back to the police in early March.

The man’s e-adventure happened a week after Transport Department ran its first-ever legalised trial of e-scooters, also in Tseung Kwan O, last weekend. Under that trial, approved machines were given special permits to ride on a 1.4km section of Tseung Kwan O cycle track, part of a government experiment to scope how people on e-mobility devices interact with other road users. At the trial, one user said it was the first time he had ridden his e-scooter in daylight.

But this latest e-scooter investigation and arrest quash the hopes of some groups that the government may turn a blind eye or relax e-scooter enforcement as it considers the technology.