People Using PMDs Illegally During This CB Period Aren’t Food Delivery Riders

Remember the days when our biggest worry when leaving our homes was getting demolished by a speeding PMD on the streets?

It was a simpler time, where we could eat Chendol at the hawker centre and happily sneeze into the faces of passing strangers.

Reader: You mean you used to deliberately sneeze on strangers before the Covid-19 pandemic?

We all have our hobbies, dear reader.

But with the number of coronavirus cases climbing faster than a monkey up a tree, many have forgotten about the two-wheeled machines that used to be the bane of our existence.

Just when we thought they were gone for good, a few have come back to haunt our streets.

People Using PMDs Illegally During This CB Period Aren’t Food Delivery Riders

PMD riders who have been taking joy rides around the country recently do not belong to any food delivery company, said Grabfood, Foodpanda, and Deliveroo.

Speaking to The Straits Times, all three food delivery companies said they have stopped working with delivery riders who use e-scooters.

Follow us on Telegram for more informative & easy-to-read articles, or download the Goody Feed app for articles you can’t find on Facebook!

As you know, PMDs have been banned on footpaths since 5 Nov last year, creating a wave of joy among pedestrians and panic among food delivery riders, many of whom used the device for their deliveries.

But videos circulating online recently showed some PMD riders gracing our streets once again and even riding dangerously among vehicles, reported The Straits Times.

Remember the youths who sped at 45km/h on the expressway during the early days of the circuit breaker period?

 

*shakes fist* Damn youths!

All three food delivery companies, however, have maintained that none of these riders belongs to them.

GrabFood said it stopped all deliveries via e-scooters since 1 April.

Foodpanda said it is “not aware of any riders” still using e-scooters, and that it has stopped all deliveries via e-scooters since mid-December last year.

And Deliveroo said it stopped taking on new riders on e-scooters since May last year, and no longer works with such riders.

But why are they coming out now, of all times?

Well, because the authorities are focused on tackling Covid-19, of course.

As one e-scooter shop owner said, some PMD riders are taking advantage of this period of “relaxed enforcement” to go out at midnight.

But this might not be the case anymore.

New Bill Introduced 

In a Facebook post on Monday (4 May), Senior Minister of State for Health and Transport Lam Pin Min announced that the government will be introducing a new bill to tackle the issues of non-compliant PMDs and PMD-related fires.

Since PMD riders are still blessing our streets with their devices and PMD fires are still occurring, Dr Lam introduced the Small Motorised Vehicles Bill and an amendment to the Active Mobility Act (AMA) in Parliament on Monday.

The Small Motorised Vehicles Bill will introduce measures like import controls of motorised PMDs and power-assisted bicycles.

Conversely, the amendment to the AMA will extend the coverage of the law to include path-connected open spaces.

If you’re a PMD rider and are planning to take your device out for a spin, remember that “riding a PMD because you’re bored” is not considered an essential trip by the gahmen. 

Plus it’s illegal, so if you want to ride your favourite two-wheeled vehicle, wait until the circuit breaker is over and ride it on a park connector like a good citizen.

PMD rider: But there are no pedestrians or cars to crash into there…

We all have to make sacrifices in life, dear rider.

To stay updated about news in Singapore, you might want to subscribe to our YouTube channel whereby we’d update you about what’s happening here…daily: