Scooters And One Wheels

PMD-related offenses lower in final Three years as e-scooter inhabitants dwindles additional

SINGAPORE – The number of offenses involving personal mobility devices (PMDs), which include e-scooters, has fallen by more than 65 per cent from 2020 to 2022 as the e-scooter population continues to decrease after it was banned from footpaths in November 2019 .

There were 1,140 offenses recorded between January and November 2022, down from 3,390 in 2020, based on figures given by Transport Minister S. Iswaran in a written parliamentary reply to Workers’ Party (WP) MP Dennis Tan in January.

These offenses comprise riding PMDs on footpaths and roads, as well as using non-compliant PMDs on public paths.

This decline comes as the number of registered e-scooters fell to 5,192 as at the end of December 2022, from 8,500 in March 2021.

In their heyday in 2019, there were about 100,000 registered e-scooters. But a spate of accidents and growing concerns about safety prompted the Government to ban e-scooters on footpaths, curtailing their use and leading to a sharp decline in the e-scooter population.

The number of PMD users nabbed for riding on footpaths fell from 2,130 in 2020 to 760 in the first 11 months of 2022.

In the same period, the number of users caught for riding PMDs on roads fell from 420 to 170. PMDs are allowed only on cycling paths and park connector networks.

WP’s Mr Tan said: “It is good to see the decline in figures with the increased enforcement and public education but, that said, there is still a large number of offenses reported for PMDs riding on footpaths and roads, so I hope the authorities will continue to enhance their various efforts in the coming year.”

Meanwhile, the number of offenses for using non-compliant PMDs on public paths dropped by 75 per cent from 840 in 2020 to 210 in the first 11 months of 2022.

Currently, only PMDs certified under the UL2272 safety standard are allowed. Non-compliant PMDs comprise those that have been illegally modified or do not meet the Land Transport Authority’s requirements, such as weight and speed limits.

In a written parliamentary reply to Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Gan Thiam Poh, Mr Iswaran said the total number of fires involving non-compliant PMDs – including those illegally modified – fell from 42 in 2020 to 12 between January and October 2022.

Replying separately to Radin Mas MP Melvin Yong, he said 295 riders were caught riding registered PMDs that did not meet requirements between January 2020 and November 2022, while 70 violations involving such PMDs were detected from operations against retailers.

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