Nine of the e-mobility devices seized in an undercover sting in Tseung Kwan O last week. The Ninebot F40 (left three devices) is sold in upmarket malls such as Pacific Place, but, like all e-mobility, is illegal to ride in public.

Police in Tseung Kwan O are now using undercover officers to target people using e-mobility such as e-scooters and e-scooters, arresting 11 earlier last week and promising more operations to come.

“Tseung Kwan O police have found there has been an upward trend in recent traffic accidents related to e-mobility,” says a police statement.

An undercover officer (right) working an e-mobility crackdown in Tseung Kwan O last week

During a two-day operation on 31 March and 1 April police arrested nine men and two women, aged between 28 and 53, for the usual slate of e-mobility arrest charges: driving without a licence, driving without insurance, driving an unlicensed vehicle and riding without a motorcycle helmet.

E-mobility devices remain illegal to use in public in Hong Kong, although Transport Department (TD) is reviewing changes to allow devices on cycle tracks. A trial is slated around the Hong Kong Science Park is slated for later this year.

The police said it appealed to “the public and delivery workers to abide by the relevant laws”.

“Upon conviction, there is a chance of being disqualified from driving in addition to a fine,” they said.

While police claim a rising accident rate for e-mobility, TD’s public figures don’t separate e-mobility as a vehicle class.

When asked to back up their claims of a rising crash rate, police said they will supply detailed e-mobility crash and enforcement figures on Friday.

Hong Kong has indeed seen some serious and fatal crashes involving e-scooters, with two riders killed in the last quarter of 2019.

But public figures just released by TD show private cars, taxis and light vans accounted for almost two-thirds of traffic crashes in 2021. The “other” category, which includes e-mobility, accounted for just 0.8%.

Police say they will continue their raids “deploying uniformed and disguised personnel to combat the illegal acts”.

Private cars were involved in over a third of crashes in Hong Kong in 2021