Twenty-three franchised bus drivers were stopped for violating road rules in the first 42 hours of a crackdown, police said last night. The three major bus companies - China Motor Bus, Citybus and Kowloon Motor Bus - were all said by police to be involved, but details were not given. Seventeen fixed penalty tickets and six verbal warnings had been issued to franchised drivers for speeding, ignoring traffic lights and queueing in boxed junctions by last night. The three bus companies said they had no record of their drivers being caught in the crackdown. 'The summonses are issued to individual drivers. We won't have a record if they choose not to tell us,' said Christine Lau Wai-king, spokesman for Citybus. All three companies said they would not take responsibility for drivers who violated regulations. Fifteen tickets for speeding were issued to drivers of public light buses and coaches including shuttle buses taking residents from New Territories estates to the urban area. Another two fixed penalty tickets were issued to a public light bus driver for disobeying traffic lights and yellow box offences. There are usually 20 to 30 cases of speeding by all vehicles a day, not always including buses. In January, there were 157 cases of buses violating regulations. The two-week campaign, which ends on March 22, was launched after the recent spate of bus accidents. The operation will focus on drivers speeding, jumping red lights and obstructing traffic by stopping in yellow boxed areas. Police say the crackdown is to raise drivers' awareness of safe driving.