Watch: S’pore Man Says PMD Ban Is ‘Destroying Lives’ As Food Delivery Riders Take A Hit

2019-11-05 , 11:00 am

So today is the day.

A day of mixed reactions, of both outcry and celebration.

What am I talking about?

Because today is the day PMDs (Personal Mobility Device) get banned on footpaths.

While I’m sure a large number of us would breathe a sigh of relief for safer travels, we can’t forget that people will get affected by this.

Especially for people who do food deliveries. Some are understandably upset by this.

Well, perhaps infuriated would be a better word.

Not too long after the PMD ban along footpaths was announced, a video surfaced from Facebook user Kelvin Ho.

The contents well…you can see below.

Man, the guy is pissed.

I can kind of sum up the video if you’re too lazy to watch it.

Kelvin states that the ban on PMDs would affect people who use it for such as food riders and e-scooter sellers.

Even with the UL2272 specifications, people would be deterred from buying a PMD as there are rare chances to use it outside of designated pathways.

He also makes a comparison to reckless road drivers, saying that bad riders and not PMDs cause the accidents. Hard agree on this one honestly.

Finally, Kelvin declared that he might as well get a scooter by January when the warning period ends.

Looking at it again, I have to agree that under all the anger and attempts not to curse that he has some valid points.

I’m not too sure about the whole insulting the gahmen part though.

Though I’m sure people who have been involved in PMD-related accidents understandably think otherwise.

As of this writing, the video has over 116,000 views, more than 1,700 likes, 5,100 shares and 25 comments.

Just to make sure we’re all up to speed about the whole PMD situation.

Despite the ban implementation, an advisory period will be in place until 31 December.

However, anyone caught riding an e-scooter on footpaths from 1 January 2020 will be liable for a fine up to S$2,000 and/or jail up to three months.

Yikes.

The ban won’t apply to bicycles or personal mobility aids or motorised scooters, so you guys are a-ok!

We actually have a more in-depth article about the ban here so do give it a read.

Your view counts are always welcome.

While I’m slightly indifferent about the ban, I do hope that footpaths will be safe enough for PMDs to be unbanned one day.

Until then, I hope none of you guys get unnecessarily fined!