News

Everything You Need To Know About The Geylang E-Scooter Accident In 60 Secs

2017-12-21 , 2:22 pm

Singapore is always known to be a relatively safe country.

I’m not trying to dispute this obvious fact.

However, if you realised, there are a few pretty serious traffic accidents that are so well-known, you’ll see them on the headlines for a few days.

What’s worse is that many of these accidents could have been prevented. They are mostly caused by humans. Yes, us.

According to Channel News Asia, yet another traffic accident happened yesterday (Dec 20). And I would say, it could have been very well prevented.

What happened

Not one, but two e-scooter riders were injured after colliding with a van.

Where it happened

The accident happened at the junction of Geylang Road and Lorong 10 Geylang.

It was reported that the bike was moving from the right lane to the left when the collision occurred.

Safety Issues

The two riders were on the same e-scooter.

I was picturing two people standing on an e-scooter but after some research (Googling), I realised there are family scooters meant for multiple riders.

There was no information on what type of e-scooters the duo was on, by the way.

I would like to assume they were riding the safer option.

Injuries

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call at around 5.15pm and sent one ambulance to the scene.

Both riders were conscious while they were taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Illegal

For those of you that didn’t know, it is against the law to ride personal mobility devices (PMD) on the road.

And just to show how much Singaporeans DGAF about this law, refer to #7 below.

Dangers on walking pavements

So, if they aren’t allowed on the roads, where can we ride them?

Well, on the walking pavements of course! (so not obvious)

The Government’s Active Mobility Advisory Panel (AMAP) has set max speed limit at 25km/h, while the recommended speed is 18km/h.

However, 18km/h is about half of Usain Bolt’s speed, which makes it still pretty dangerous for pedestrians.

Offenders

On Tuesday (Dec 19), the Land Transport Authority said it seized more than 480 personal mobility devices (PMDs) in this year alone, from users who were found to be riding on the roads.

Serious repercussions

As I mentioned, the recommended speed for walking pavements is 18km/h.

An accident involving a man riding his e-scooter at 60km/h and knocking into a boy resulted in the latter suffering from a concussion.

On a more serious note, a rider died after getting into an accident with a double-decker bus.

Mind you, all these happened on our sunny island.

Promoting safety

The great news is, more are becoming aware of the dangers and are advocating for safe-riding.

Interest groups such as Big Wheel Scooters Singapore (BWSS) ensure that all members follow the scooting etiquette.

LTA speed guns

The LTA said it has “doubled the number of enforcement officers from 24 in June to more than 50 currently.”

The officers are also being armed with speed guns to detect PMD users speeding on public paths.

No, I have no idea where the officers are stationed at.

No, even if I know, I also won’t tell you.

Now that you know more about the dangers of speeding on PMDs and how they are not permitted on the roads, please be vigilant while you’re out!

Since you’re here, why not watch a video about a guy who lodged a Police report here in Singapore because he was friendzoned? Seriously. Here, watch it and do remember to share it (and also subscribe to Goody Feed YouTube channel)!

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com