Personal mobility aids that assist the immobile and the elderly to move around should not have top speeds that exceed walking speed.

I recently saw an elderly man zipping around on his personal mobility aid, which resembled a motorised tricycle, at speeds similar to that of a person sprinting.

Having such personal mobility aids operating at high speeds is unnecessary, in fact it may endanger the elderly who use them as their reflexes may not be quick enough to stop in time, not to mention the risk they pose to the public.

While there are speed restrictions in place for electric bicycles and electric personal mobility devices (PMDs), I believe another area which may need evaluation is speed restrictions on personal mobility aids designed to be used by the elderly, which should be set at no faster than walking speed.

Just as there are different categories of vehicles based on their weights and thus different speed limits on the road, I believe that PMDs and personal mobility aids should be further classified into different categories with different speed limits for the safety of users and the public.

Clara Chua Sieo Peng