Police ticket pedestrians in New Territories North and Hong Kong Island earlier this week (photos: police)

Police in New Territories North and Hong Kong Island continued their assault on pedestrian offences, with an operation codenamed “Autobinder” dishing out 256 tickets for jaywalking in two operations this week.

Cops said they worked with Transport Department at traffic blackspots “to crack down on the pedestrians involved” in two regions.

Some 182 tickets were given in New Territories North and 74 on Hong Kong Island, mainly for pedestrians who crossed on red, crossed within 15 metres of a pedestrian crossing or climbed a fence.

“The police remind members of the public, especially the elderly, not to cross the road indiscriminately,” said a statement.

“They should use legal crossing facilities to cross the road. The police will continue to take appropriate enforcement actions against various pedestrians on a regular basis to ensure the safety of road users”.

There were 52 pedestrian deaths and 2,252 injuries in 2020, around half of them involving a road crossing, while around 40% were walking in the road, either through choice or because of some obstacle on the pavement.

Jaywalking tickets have surged 219% in the first half of this year, with 4,159 tickets given, against 1,303 in the first six months of 2020.

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