#TuesdayTruthday: Goody Feed Beings Describe Their Bad Experiences With PMDs

We all agree that the Internet is filled with nothing but truthfulness: that influencer whom you’ve been stalking definitely looks like a diva 24 hours a day, and travel 365 days a year.

Your friend is in a great relationship because he’s been posting lovey-dovey images on Instagram, despite the fact that you saw him on Tinder this morning.

With so many people having such a perfect image online, we thought of having a weekly section called #TuesdayTruthday, whereby we Goody Feed, the imperfect human beings on the Internet, reveal some of our stories to show you the truth online.

And for this week’s edition, we’re going to talk about the three most dreaded alphabets in Singapore: PMDs. (OK, I guess that’s four)

Ah, PMDs. What was once a technological innovation is now a death machine with shitty music.

When PMDs first came out, everyone was like Wah, now I don’t need to walk anywhere anymore leh! Now, people are like Wah, now I cannot walk anywhere anymore without getting hit by PMD leh!

Just a week ago, PMDs were banned. Some cheered while others made videos cursing the gahmen.

If you’re not up to speed on the ban, here’s a video we made explaining why it was implemented.

You see, PMDs were banned because they were constantly crashing into people on the streets, causing injuries and sometimes even death.

So, just to remind our dear readers of why the ban was introduced, we thought we’d share our bad experiences with these notorious devices.

Here are three stories of our bad experiences with PMDs.

The One Who Was Slammed While on WhatsApp – Editor, 24

Let’s make one thing clear. I understand that not all PMD riders are reckless and endanger the lives of others. But this doesn’t cross out the fact that there are many bad apples out there. 

I personally know many people who have been hit by an errant PMD or have had close encounters with them. I have had the ‘pleasure’ of being one of them. 

Close encounter 1:

It seemed like any other day and I had just left the Goody Feed office. As I turned left onto the footpath, a speeding PMD grazed my shoulder and I was shoved to the side. My heart was beating so fast and my arm hurt from the impact but by the time I could look up the PMD rider was whizzing away.

How did I know it was speeding? It flew by so fast that I didn’t even have time to snap a photo before it disappeared out of sight. No apology, nothing. I don’t even know if they realised that they had whacked my arm, hard. I say they because there were two people on that PMD.

That was my first close shave. My heart was beating so fast after the incident occurred and I became paranoid whenever I walked on a footpath. I kept thinking that If I had taken a bigger step or if I had turned a moment earlier I would’ve ended up on a hospital bed.

My First PMD Crash

In order to get home, I have to walk for around 10 minutes on a footpath from the MRT. It was weeks after the first incident and even though I was more cautious in general, I had let my guard down for a second because I assumed that the footpath was too narrow for a PMD to think of even riding there.

Big mistake. 

I don’t usually walk while using my phone but just nice I had gotten a notification on WhatsApp. I took out my phone and checked it. Next thing I know my phone was flying out of my hands and I felt a sharp pain in my wrist. 

A PMD had crashed into me. You might’ve thought that the PMD rider would’ve rushed to me to ask if I was okay. Nope, me and the PMD rider both rushed to a young girl who had fallen off the PMD from the impact onto the grass patch beside the narrow footpath. 

She had been on the E-scooter as a passenger, while her father was driving it. Thankfully the girl only had minor abrasions and the father quickly asked if I was okay. He was very apologetic about it all and I assured him I was okay and reminded him to take care of his daughter.

Both incidences are still fresh in my head and I still feel paranoid everytime I’m walking on a footpath but I’m thankful that I didn’t sustain any serious injuries from either. I can only imagine what others have gone through, especially for those whose family members have been involved in serious and at times fatal accidents.

The One With The Green Flash – Writer, 23

No fatal accident for me but it could’ve ended a lot worse.

The area I lived in had an abundance of GrabFood deliveries coming due to it being the June school holidays. At least that’s what I assumed. I remember dropping off my bus and decided to walk on the footpath for a nice breeze. I’d also normally wear a pair of earphones but forgot to bring them out with me. This is important by the way.

So yeah, I was just on my way back when thank goodness, I heard something coming from behind me. Turning around, I saw a green flash heading towards my direction which I would later find to be a GrabFood driver. I couldn’t really move out of the way in time cause of how narrow the footpath outside my house. All I could do was quickly step to the side and hope nothing happened.

And what I can say is I’m so lucky that the delivery guy somehow managed to brake in time to not knock me down but to kind of bump into me. I still tripped a little and lost my balance but no injuries or anything. At least the guy was apologetic about it, though I was admittedly still pretty annoyed after.

The One Who Used To Like PMDs – Deputy Editor, 27

I used to be a fan of PMDs. I never used one, but I had friends who did and it seemed like the coolest thing. Who likes walking anyway, amiright? But then these group of pavement motorists started increasing in number and, more importantly, in speed.

Even after hearing of all the PMD-related fires and accidents I felt like those who were calling for a ban were being a little harsh.

I was wrong.

One day, after a gloriously unhealthy meal at McDonald’s, I decided to walk home to work off all the calories I had consumed. On the way back, I heard something which everyone now recognizes as a bad omen: PMD music.

I didn’t think much of it at the time, but little did I know, death was fast approaching on an e-scooter.

Just two seconds after hearing some bad electronic music, a PMD crashed into my back, flinging me majestically into a grassy patch beside the pavement. Thankfully, I landed on my shoulder and didn’t sustain any serious injuries, but it was certainly painful.

Instead of stopping to check if I was okay, the PMD rider just rode off into the sunset, as if he had just lightly grazed my shoulder.

Now, after looking both ways when crossing the street, I look both ways before setting foot on the pavement.