Cases of unlawful street crossing by pedestrians increasing

The number of cases related to unlawful street crossings by pedestrians continues to grow, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) noted in a written response to the Times.

From January 1 to December 17 this year, the PSP issued a total of 3,833 fines to pedestrians, the majority of which (3,709) were for jaywalking. An additional 124 fines were issued for failures to comply with pedestrian traffic light signals.

Almost 650 fines to pedestrians were issued  between December 1 and December 17 alone this year, indicating a daily increase in such occurrences, according to the PSP.

An average of 40 cases per day were recorded by officers in several locations across the city.

The total amount of revenue from fines for these infractions is estimated to be over MOP1.2 million this year, given that the amount of each fine is MOP300.

Among the fined individuals are numerous young tourists who walk the streets and roads of Macau in pursuit of capturing photos and videos of Macau’s iconic views, often at the expense of road safety. There are also many instances of people failing to use pedestrian flyovers and underpasses whilst crossing some of the busiest streets and avenues in Macau.

In their statement, the PSP urged pedestrians to use designated zebra crossings or pedestrian flyovers to cross the roadways safely. They cautioned against jeopardizing their safety and that of road users by attempting to take scenic shots for social media posts.

The police further cautioned drivers to remain vigilant of road conditions and pedestrian traffic, especially in areas frequented by tourists.

To raise awareness and promote safe road crossing behavior, the PSP recently launched a special publicity campaign using a cartoon-like police officer to capture pedestrians’ attention.