Active Mobility Advisory Panel Looking Into Bicycle Brake Rules After Tragic Carpark Accident In Jan This Year

Not too long ago in 2019, the buzzword swirling around everywhere was PMD, aka Personal Mobility Device.

Yeap, the ones where our food delivery heroes used as transport tools to send food to our doorsteps.

Following several accidents as a result of PMD usage, they were banned on footpaths in November 2019:

This year, another active mobility device is in the spotlight.

Fixed-gear bicycles, also known as fixies.

Active Mobility Advisory Panel Looking Into Regulation For Bicycle Brakes

In January this year, a 13-year-old girl fell to her death while riding a fixed-gear bicycle at a multi-storey carpark located at Pasir Ris.

The girl was riding her friend’s fixed–gear bicycle when she lost control while cycling down the ramp from the seventh to the sixth level.

As a result, she collided with the metal railing at the side of the carpark and was flung out of the carpark and down to the ground.

The Active Mobility Advisory Panel will be conducting a review with regards to the regulation of bicycle brakes in Singapore, following this fatal incident.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport, Mr Baey Yam Keng, said the panel will conduct the review, which aims to “strike a balance between all stakeholders”, as reported by Straits Times.

Mr Baey also mentioned that the panel will study how other countries are regulating the same issue, examine safety factors and gather inputs from users.

The review is expected to be completed by later this year.

Meanwhile, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that fixed-gear bicycles require time to learn the skills needed to ride safely and proficiently, similar to conventional bicycles.

It was added that beginners should always learn under supervision.

How Does Fixed-Gear Bicycles Work?

Here’s a quick crash course on how fixies work: These bicycles do not have a freewheel mechanism or brakes.

They rely on your body and riding techniques to manoeuvre the bike.

Instead of using the brakes like how conventional bicycles work, riders have to decrease their cycling speed in order to stop the bike.

Due to the potential risks fixed-gear bicycles possess, they are either banned or face restricted usage in countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Cyclists in Singapore had pointed out that the cheap and uncomplicated nature of fixed-gear bicycles have attracted quite a following.

The Active Mobility Act

In order to regulate the usage of active mobile devices in Singapore, The Land Transport Authority (LTA) implemented the Active Mobility Act (AMA) in May 2018.

Bicycles are considered as active mobile devices under the AMA.

There’s a set of rules and code of conduct under this act. This is to enable safer sharing of public paths among various users.

There are different speed limits set for bicycles when riders are cycling along different paths.

The LTA classifies the paths into:

1. Cycling Paths
2. Footpaths
3. Roads

The general speed limit while riding your bikes on cycling paths and park connectors is 25km/hr.

These paths usually have yellow markings on the ground:

As for footpaths, the speed limit for bicycles is 10km/hr.

These paths do not have the cyclists logos or ‘PCN’ wordings on them.

Riders are allowed to cycle as long as they keep within the speed limit of the road.

So while cycling, do take note of the speed limits and ensure the safety of others and yourself.

And please, don’t do what this guy did.