The rider of an electric scooter fled the scene after knocking down a woman in Bukit Panjang, according to a Facebook post, and the victim’s sister is appealing to the public for witnesses.
Jenn Low wrote on Facebook that her sister was hit while walking at the void deck of Block 442 on Tuesday night. The rider allegedly crashed into the woman from behind, knocking her onto her right side. While she did suffer injuries to her arm, leg, and temple, Low was thankful that her sister’s injuries were minor.
“Luckily she landed on the grass patch and this kinda soften the impact,” said Low in her Facebook post.
Photos of the injuries show the victim’s scraped and bleeding limbs, but the most disturbing aspect of the incident occurred after the impact when the driver apparently sped off without even stopping.
“The bloody rider did not stop or provided any assistance,” said Low. “Instead the rider fled the scene towards the direction of Fajar Shopping Center.”
The appearance of the rider was not described in the post. A police spokesman, however, noted to STOMP that it was alerted to an accident involving an e-scooter rider and a pedestrian at 10.12pm on Jun 26.
The collision that injured Low’s sister is only the latest electric scooter-related mishap to have taken place in Singapore.
In March, a man was arrested after he allegedly knocked down a woman in Bedok Reservoir, leaving her in a temporary coma.
In April, an e-scooter rider was arrested after seriously injuring a young girl in Pasir Ris. The girl, 11, had to have her jaw and gums realigned after the collision.
The government is stepping in to protect citizens from reckless riders. In March, the Land Transport Authority imposed a new regulation, requiring all e-scooters to be registered starting in the second half of this year.
“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.
On her part, Low said that she created the Facebook post about the incident in order to reach anyone who may have witnessed the collision and encourage them to come forward.
“I am posting this to appeal for witnesses and as an alert to all,” she wrote. “Even if you are careful, this shit happens. When will authority view these cases (seriously) and ban e-scooters? Who will be next? Kids and elderly might not be able to take these hits well.”
