Police swoop on people using bicycles to get around, while for drivers it’s good news: speeding convictions are down

Police ambushed and summonsed almost 1,000 pedestrians and cyclists last month, with districts from New Territories North to Hong Kong Island cracking down on “indiscriminate crossing of the road” and cycling offences such as cycling at night without lights.

Police figures show 435 people on bicycles were summonsed under six operations codenamed “Goldensun” since the end of September, while 253 pedestrians were busted under two operations codenamed “Autobinder”.

And another 250 other pedestrians and nearly 60 cyclists were caught up and summonsed in other unnamed police campaigns or regular “Traffic Day” operations intended to combat illegal parking or other driving offences.

The number of cyclists and pedestrians booked this year to the end of September is already over the full-year figure for 2020, although down on 2021’s year-to-date numbers. Last year saw a record crackdown on pedestrians and cyclists, with identified pedestrian offences nearly doubling on 2020 and cycling offences up almost 70%.

For comparison, fewer than 60 drunk drivers are caught and charged every month. Meanwhile recorded speeding offences are down 1% for the year to date and parking tickets are up just 2%, according to police figures released in October.