Pedestrian jaywalking drops but red-light violations by vehicles surge

Traffic accidents and pedestrian jaywalking cases dropped year-on-year in the first quarter, but red-light violations by vehicles surged by 1.1 times, resulting in 177,000 prosecutions and MOP46.6 million in fines, according to the Public Security Police Force (PSP).

Traffic accidents fell 5.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year to 3,426 cases, but injuries rose slightly, with 1,325 people hurt – including 133 pedestrians, a 2.24% increase – though no fatalities were recorded, police announced in newly released statistics.

Police recorded 177,385 cases of road traffic law violations in the first three months of this year, with fines totaling more than MOP46.6 million – both figures down 8.35% and 9.81%, respectively, compared with the same period last year.

From January to March of this year, 2,310 red-light violations were prosecuted – more than double the figure from the same period last year – with vehicles running red lights accounting for the majority. In contrast, pedestrian jaywalking violations dropped from 2,398 to 1,467, a decline of nearly 40% year on year.

Offenses involving mobile phone use while driving and failure to yield the right of way decreased by 33.53% and 4.66%, recording 247 and 1,101 cases, respectively.

Police data also revealed instances of vehicle overloading. While overloading violations involving passenger cars doubled year on year to 19 cases, one case involving a motorcycle was recorded in the first quarter, along with three cases involving the transport of passengers under the age of six.

In the first quarter of this year, police issued 3,592 speeding citations on public roads, an 8.48% decrease year on year.

The Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge recorded 11 speeding citations, while citations on the Amizade Bridge and Sai Van Bridge each fell by more than 20%. The Macao Bridge saw 225 speeding citations, though no year-on-year comparison is available as speed detection systems had not yet been installed during the same period last year.

Regarding parking violations, 874 citations were issued for “parking on public roads” from January to March, a year-on-year increase of nearly 40%. Citations for “parking at toll booths or metered parking” totaled 2,092, a marginal 0.48% decrease. Meanwhile, 158,045 citations were issued for illegal parking – a drop of over 70% year-on-year – with “illegal parking on public roads” accounting for the majority of cases.

In the first quarter, police prosecuted 404 cases of taxi violations and 18 cases involving unlicensed vehicles. More than half of the taxi violations involved taxis failing to queue properly at taxi stands, while 34 cases involved taking obvious detours and 54 involved refusal to pick up passengers.