After years of witnessing reckless behavior by electric scooter riders IRL and through viral dashcam footages, the authorities are enacting tougher regulations for personal mobility devices. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced yesterday that all e-scooters will have to be registered from the second half of 2018 onwards.
The mandatory registration will require all e-scooter owners to provide personal particulars as part of the registration process, as well as stick permanent identification stickers prominently on their rides. On top of that, registered owners will be required to ensure that their e-scooters don’t exceed 20kg in maximum unladen weight, have a maximum width of 700 mm, and a maximum speed of 25 km/h.
“Registering e-scooters will help deter reckless behavior, accord more responsibility to the users, and facilitate enforcement officers in tracking down errant users,” said Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min in Parliament yesterday during the Committee of Supply debate on the Transport Ministry’s budget.
Other types of personal mobility devices such as hoverboards and unicycles won’t require mandatory registration due to their lower speeds and lesser widespread usage here.
It’s been more than a year since similar regulations were announced for electric bicycles, which only kicked in last month. Now, riders of unregistered e-bikes are liable for fines of up to $2,000 and a three-month jail sentence.
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