If you’re an e-scooter or e-bicycle rider who’s been proudly flouting the rules with your device, thinking you’ll never get caught, perhaps you ought to keep an eye out for officers on the road these days. As the debate has grown over whether personal mobility devices (PMDs) and their sometimes-reckless riders should be allowed on the pavements, it seems the authorities are clamping down hard on errant users.
After an update just last month on an enforcement operation in Punggol that resulted in more than 30 e-scooter and e-bicycle riders caught for offences such as speeding and using non-complaint devices, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) returned with another on Sunday, this time in the Tampines, Seng Kang, and Ang Mo Kio areas.
Apparently, over the weekend, officers seized 14 devices and detected 23 offences, including the use of PMDs on the roads, failing to stop when they were required to do so, and displaying a false identification mark on an e-scooter.
The LTA also posted a summary of its May enforcement operations on Facebook yesterday, declaring that 325 offences were detected and 157 devices were impounded over the course of the month. PMDs made up 127 of the impounded devices, while 151 offences arose because the riders were on the wrong paths or on the roads.
The clip ended with a reminder to the public to ride safe because, the LTA claimed, #WeAreWatchingYou.
If you own a PMD but you’re still unsure about the rules, get up to date on the Active Mobility Act to ensure your ignorance doesn’t cost you.
