Two Members of Parliament, Joan Pereira and Lee Bee Wah asked during the parliamentary session if the republic would consider banning Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs), vehicles such as unicycles, hoverboards, and electric scooters on footpaths after the French capital Paris recently decided to ban electric scooters from September this year due to congestion and several accidents.
The 58-year-old politician, Lee, said Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Transport Ministry (MOT) should think about this proposal since allowing PMDs has actually put pedestrians to more risk on roads. To support her remarks, Lee narrated in parliament about the incident involving a jogger, who suffered a brain injury after a power-assisted bicycle hit him on the footpath near Marina Bay Sands. She also mentioned that many of her residents don't feel safe while walking on park connectors.
MP Murali Pillai and the leader of Workers' Party, Pritam Singh, also urged MOT to ban e-scooter use from void deck spaces.
A 51-year-old woman, Cassandra Ho, who was hospitalised after an accident in June 2018 near Bishan Park, told the New Paper that she would support the ban of PMDs after facing life-threatening incident. She said that such vehicles are not safe, especially for children and elderly people.
While giving a response to the appeal, Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State for Transport said MOT has no plans to ban electric vehicles. He stated that banning those transportation mediums from footpath is not the solution as the users of PMDs and other active mobility devices have to use the roads, which will be riskier.
Lam also mentioned that an accident involving an electronic vehicle will be far more serious and fatal. However, the 49-year-old PAP member stated that MOT will continue studying e-scooter regulations in other countries.
As per the rules under Active Mobility Act (AMA), all the bicycles, PMDs and PABs have to meet the device criteria of a maximum weight of 20kg, a maximum width of 70cm and maximum capped speed of 25km/h.
All the users of active mobility devices are also asked to follow the following measures to make sure the safety of others, using the same path, is taken care of.
To know more about the rules and code of conduct, visit lta.gov.sg.
