Brother Of Cyclist Killed in Accident Involving PMD Says Ban ‘Is Only Right’

Unless you’ve somehow been in the privileged position to not walk on any footpaths, you’ve probably been in one of those encounters with a PMD.

Just in case you’re a fellow basement dweller who hadn’t seen the outside world, Personal Mobility Devices (PMD) and e-scooters are now banned on footpaths in S’pore.

Even as a basement dweller who mostly lived in hibernation and still thinks PMD = Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, there have been a few… close encounters with Death himself.

And for those who had these flash meetings with the black-robed figure, or perhaps have some kind of your life flashing before your eyes moments, today is the day we can feel a bit safer.

For those who still think “ban=bad”, “freedom” etc. Maybe you should listen to the brother of a female cyclist who actually died from a PMD accident in Bedok.

Ban On E-Scooter Is “Only Right”

Madam Ong Bee Eng, 65, worked as a logistics assistant packer and was cycling home at night on 21 September 2019. A collision with a PMD left her unconscious and led to fractures to her ribs and collarbone, as well as serious brain injuries.

She died several days after in the hospital.

The police had arrested the 20-year-old rider who collided into Madam Ong. He was under investigation for causing death by a rash act, which is a potential jail of up to five years or a fine or both.

(More on the case can be read here and here.)

Madam Ong’s brother, Andy Ong, 53, spoke to The Straits Times and had this to say:

“Many of us now walk on the grass instead of the footpath because we are scared of being hit.”

That’s right. That right there is exactly why we can’t have nice things. Footpaths, which, clearly by definition meant “pathways for foot walkers”, is now so dominated by the inconsiderate errant PMD rider despite their low numbers.

Mr Ong had seen PMDs in the Bedok bus interchange areas and on footpaths in the Chai Chee area where he lives. He says he “definitely” feels more “reassured” to walk on footpaths now.

Mr Ong was still unable to accept the fact that he had lost his elder sister because of a PMD accident. He had even suggested that the import of devices like PMDs to be regulated.

But… Is The Ban Going To Help?

Now, I think that Mr Ong’s suggestion for regulation will not do much since the footpath ban itself is going to cause demand for PMDs to go down already. Doing more on top of the existing safety regulations would probably be counterproductive.

To put the ban into perspective, the definition of PMD includes e-scooters, hoverboards and unicycles. This doesn’t apply to bicycles or Personal Mobility Aids (the ones used by people who really need it).

And in terms of travellable paths, PMDs are now limited to the 440km of cycling paths instead of 5,500 km of footpaths.

In S’pore, there are about 100,000 registered e-scooters.

Let’s do some math. 100,000 is less than 2% of our population. 440km of cycling paths is 8% of 5,500 km footpaths.

This meant that a minority within less than 2% of the population had inconvenienced the rest of the 98% so much that PMDs became such a huge topic here.

To those who still say PMDs shouldn’t be banned on footpaths: I don’t know man, maybe the PMD ban does make a lot of sense. Maybe one day we’ll be civilised enough to not drive 50km/h on footpaths, but today’s clearly not the day.