PSP fines over 1,750 jaywalkers in January

January saw 1,751 people fined for committing offences while crossing Macau’s streets, recent data released from the Public Security Police Force (PSP) has shown.

According to the PSP, the figure from January alone represents 33.2% of the total number of fines issued for the whole twelve months of last year, amounting to 5,273.

January figures account for an average of 56.5 fines issued for jaywalking per day.

Although there is no official final figure for February yet, analysis of the weekly disclosures by the PSP, completed by the Times, indicates that February results will be significantly lower than January. There should only be around 660 fines for the whole month; that is, 22.8 fines per day.

If true, this means that, in only the first two months of this year, the PSP has already reached about half of its total 2023 number, suggesting this would most probably be a record year for this type of fine by the force.

The PSP has appealed to road users to follow Article 70 of the Road Traffic Law strictly.

Article 70 states that pedestrians should cross the roads at indicated locations, such as zebra crossings. Moreover, if these locations are equipped with traffic lights, then pedestrians should obey traffic light signals.

The same Road Traffic Law also provides that if there is no properly signed crossing spot within 50 meters, pedestrians may still cross the road if they ensure that their crossing moment does not pose a risk or affect vehicle traffic.

At the moment, a bill to amend the Road Traffic Law has been submitted by the government to the Legislative Assembly and is being analyzed and discussed. Among the amendments proposed are several related to pedestrian traffic and road crossing, with the government aiming to enforce even stricter laws.

The new draft bill proposes, among other things, to ban pedestrians’ use of mobile phones, as well as other electronic equipment, like photo and video cameras, while crossing Macau’s streets.

The PSP also disclosed that 478 traffic accidents involving pedestrians were recorded last year, four of which were fatal.