225 errant e-scooter users caught this year

The Land Transport Authority conducting an enforcement operation along Loyang Drive earlier this year.
The Land Transport Authority conducting an enforcement operation along Loyang Drive earlier this year. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

A total of 225 errant users of Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs) have been caught riding illegally on roads so far this year, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has said. The PMDs were all e-scooters and impounded.

The LTA said its active mobility enforcement officers have conducted about 870 enforcement operations islandwide.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, the LTA said that it takes a serious view of users who ride their devices recklessly, "as their actions endanger themselves and other road and path users". It added that riding PMDs on roads is an offence.

If convicted, first-time offenders can be jailed for up to three months and/or fined up to $2,000. Repeat offenders face up to six months' jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

On Jan 15 this year, the LTA increased penalties to deter errant use of PMDs. The composition fine was increased from $100 to $300 for first-time offenders who ride on local roads.

Those who ride on major roads for the first time face a $500 composition fine. Those who ride on expressways will be charged in court, and PMDs will continue to be impounded during investigations.

PMDs do not include electric bicycles, which are to be ridden on roads and not on pedestrian pathways.

The latest statistics come after a series of accidents involving e-scooters recently. On April 21, a 49-year-old e-scooter rider was taken to hospital after an accident with a taxi in Bukit Timah.

On April 17, a 65-year-old woman said she was knocked down by an e-scooter rider in Ang Mo Kio.

A 15-year-old suspect was subsequently identified.

That same day, a 26-year-old e-scooter rider was hurt after he collided with a car near Kembangan MRT station.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 01, 2018, with the headline 225 errant e-scooter users caught this year. Subscribe