Two sides to PMDs in Singapore

Personal mobility devices (PMDs) are the latest fad. Year after year, the sales of PMDs grow and it seems natural for PMDs to be popular. They provide convenience, speed and perhaps in the long term, lower cost for movement between places. Reminiscent of the iconic scene of “fitless humans” in Pixar’s Wall-E, the world, not just Singapore, is understandably drawn to these as substitutes for walking or cycling - basically our daily commute. Yet despite its popularity and an apparent myriad of benefits, it does not come without controversies and at the same time growing disapproval in Singapore.

Perhaps before we delve deeper into this topic, it will be best that we differentiate PMDs, from Power-Assisted Bikes (PABs) and Personal Mobility Aids (PMAs). 1. PABs consist of electric bicycles or simply E-bikes 2. PMAs consist of motorised wheelchairs and mobility scooters, used by people with mobility difficulties or disabilities. Their speed limit is capped at 10km/h 3. PMDs consist of kick scooters, unicycles, hover-boards etc and their speed limit varies. It is capped at 25km/h on shared paths and 10km/h on footpaths. And the uproar against PMDs lies with the irresponsible usage and storage of these devices. In just a span of a week, 2 people were killed in accidents involving PMDs. An elderly cyclist was killed when she collided with a non-compliance PMD while a PMD rider was killed when he lost control of his device and fell off it in a separate incident. Notably, in 2017 and 2018, out of 228 reported accidents involving PMDs on public paths, 196 resulted in injuries. Accidents involving PMDs do not just happen when they are being used. From time to time, news reports of PMDs catching on fire while charging appear as well, very often resulting in the total destruction of houses and unfortunately implicating neighbouring houses as well. Experts say that these fire could be a result of using wrong chargers for PMDs, resulting in overcharging and the damage of the insides of the batteries, shorting them, overheating and causing a fire. However, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) had already implemented several regulations to govern the usage of PMDs. The weight limit is set at 20kg and length at 70cm. Its speed limit is set at 25km/h and all devices must meet the UL2272 standards to prevent fire and electrical hazards. In September 2019, the 15 town councils run by People’s Action Party implemented a ban of usage of PMDs in void decks though the $5000 ban will only kick in after 31 October. As of July 2019, it is an offence to ride an unregistered e-scooter on public paths. Your e-scooter(s) can be registered at www.onemotoring.com.sg/escooter Clearly, many people are still not compliant with these rules and regulations as accidents are still prevalent. Many Singaporeans continue to ride unregistered PMDs or ride modified ones, very often reducing its ability to prevent overheating and fire in exchange for increased speed. It is these irresponsible riders that are endangering the lives of not just themselves but also those innocent pedestrians they zoom pass and those living perfectly fine in their own homes, not knowing that a ticking time bomb is parked right next to them.

With so many incidents in such a short time, a growing voice against the usage of PMDs in Singapore is growing, with petitions such as this - https://www.change.org/p/all-singaporeans-banning-of-pmd-e-bike-in-singapore have sprung up, garnering much more support than there previously was. To many, it seems natural for PMDs to be banned, they are dangerous and since it is difficult to regulate it, why not ban it? France and Germany had enacted bans on the use of e-scooters on pavements - why don't we follow suit?

However, we cannot be rash to make such decisions. As mentioned in the ministerial statement by Senior Minister of State for Transport Dr Lam Pin Min on PMDs in August 2019, he noted that of the tens of thousands of Singaporeans that have adopted the usage of PMDs, many have followed the regulations that came along with it. The introduction and usage of PMDs have benefited many and provided a source of income for many such as food deliverymen. While the petition above may have listed ways to mitigate the loss of jobs for these deliverymen, how sure can one be of these "solutions" - knowing that these jobs are dependent on speed and physical strength of the deliverymen.

Surely, bans are not the way forward, we need to understand that bans are very direct, very often, too direct policies. A problem to a certain group could very well be a benefit to another and siding one group just does not seem fair. Yes, PMDs may have injured many, killed some and even destroyed homes of others, but a ban on PMDs just does not seem right, instead, it will seem badly thought out - removing something just because it does not turn out well and not picking out its problems to refine it instead. While we have bans on different things that are deemed socially undesirable by the government and generally agreed upon by the people such as pornographic materials and sale and consumption of alcohols in public places after 10:30 pm, PMDs can hardly fall into the same category of either example, arguments against the usage of PMDs in public spaces simply cannot justify a ban against them.

Therefore, perhaps Singaporeans will just have to wait, to wait for an answer as it is not something that we can definitively say is detrimental to our society and well, it is the government's job to reconcile both sides of this conversation and to find a solution to bring together the two sides of PMDs in Singapore.

For Dr Lam Pin Min's statement - https://www.mot.gov.sg/news-centre/news/detail/ministerial-statement-by-senior-minister-of-state-for-transport-dr-lam-pin-min-on-personal-mobility-devices

(Cover photo by Claudio Scharwz)

By Eugene Goh