Police act on cycling dangers
A surge in bicycle accidents has prompted police to step up enforcement and road safety promotion.
Police recorded 1,447 accidents involving bicycles in the first eight months of this year, up 13.5 per cent from the same period last year.
There were 1,507 injuries, and 10 cyclists died compared with seven in the whole of last year.
'The number of people riding bicycles has increased, as many new towns developed in recent years have cycling lanes,' said Chief Inspector Fiona Tam Pik-ling, of the road safety unit of the police's traffic branch. Some 91 per cent of accidents happened in the New Territories.
Tam said the most common reasons for accidents were careless cycling and cyclists losing control of their bikes. Police conducted a road safety promotion last week and plan to issue more court summons for cycling offences this week.
A man died yesterday after being thrown from his foldable bike down a slope along Shek Pai Wan Road, Aberdeen. The 42-year-old, who was not wearing a helmet, died of head injuries in Queen Mary Hospital.
