2 teenagers on e-bike beat red light, but collided with car and were flung on bonnet

The two teenagers sliding off the bonnet of a car after crashing their motorised bicycle into it. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM FACEBOOK VIDEO

SINGAPORE - Two male teenagers were injured after the motorised bicycle, or e-bike, they were riding crashed into a car in Ang Mo Kio on Saturday (Feb 27) afternoon.

The accident, which occurred at around 3.20pm, took place at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenues 6 and 8, a police spokesman said in response to queries from The Straits Times.

The teenagers, aged 16 and 18 years old, were sent to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for treatment. They have since been discharged.

Police investigations are ongoing, the spokesman added.

A video of the accident - captured by the car's dashboard camera - was put up on the Singapore Reckless Drivers Community Facebook page on Sunday (Feb 28) afternoon.

It showed the car turning right into Ang Mo Kio Avenue 9 after the traffic lights had turned in its favour. But the speeding e-bike, which had been travelling straight along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, suddenly emerged from behind a lorry and beat the red light.

The resulting crash flung both riders onto the car's bonnet.

Photos posted by Facebook user Di Shen showed that the front of the car had been badly damaged from the impact.

Damage to the car and the e-bike after the accident. PHOTO: FACEBOOK/EBIKERS.SG/DI SHEN

As of 6pm on Sunday, the Facebook video had garnered over 220,000 views and attracted more than 1,100 comments.

The majority of those commenting on the post spoke out in support of the car driver and laid the blame on the two e-bikers.

Others called for the authorities to clamp down on the usage of e-bikes, also known as power-assisted bicycles (PABs), on the roads, which has been a source of debate over safety concerns in recent months.

According to figures provided by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), a total of 256 summonses - a higher-than-average number - were issued to users of illegal motorised bikes in December last year.

In the whole of 2015, there were 1,863 summonses compared to 1,042 in 2014 and 978 in 2013.

LTA had introduced tighter regulations on the use and sales of e-bikes from Dec 1 last year. A PAB's maximum weight must not exceed 20kg; it should also not have a start-up assistance feature like a throttle and must comply with European Standard EN15194, currently applied in Australia and 33 countries across Europe.

First-time offenders can be fined $300 - up from $100 previously - and repeat offenders risk a $500 fine, a $300 increase from the previous penalty.

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