A 75-year-old man was killed in Yuen Long this morning: the taxi driver who struck him was arrested for dangerous driving causing death

Police have arrested a taxi driver following a crash that killed a 75-year-old man riding a bicycle in Yuen Long this morning.

According to police reports, taxi driver Mr Yik, 57, was driving eastbound on Wang Tat Road at 10:39am when, around the junction with Fung Chi Road, he struck rider Mr Chan. Reports suggest Chan and his bicycle were dragged some distance by the taxi, which took around 10 metres to stop.

Chan was rushed to Pok Oi Hospital unconscious and died at 11:15am.

Police arrested Yik for dangerous driving causing death, and say he is being detained for enquiries.

This is the second cyclist death in just over a week: last Tuesday, a 65-year-old man was knocked down and killed by a cement truck driver in Tuen Mun.

And in late September a 71-year-old man was killed in Tuen Mun after being knocked down by a van driver.

Eight people lost their lives riding bicycles in 2021. All victims were male, aged from 55 to 79 and with an average age of 64. Three were hit by buses (one minibus, one school bus, one staff coach); one was crushed by a cement truck. Two were killed in collisions with other cyclists, and in two cases there is insufficient public information to determine the cause.

Three of those fatal 2021 crashes happened within a few kilometres of today’s smash. While the district has several cycle tracks, cyclists in Yuen Long often prefer to use the roads, which have fewer breaks or obstacles than the crowded and intermittent bike lanes and which connect better to the villages and shops in the community.