tzlee.com/blog

Tag: Cycling

  • Letter to my MPs on Cyclists

    Dear Mr. Liang, Ms. Sim, et al.,

    There has been some commotion after several cyclists were killed in road accidents, and after meeting with another reckless cyclists yesterday I feel I need to write to an authority about this before more people get hurt.

    I am not sure which ministry (LTA? SPF?) to send this to, hence I am writing to you.

    I recall that many years back there was an old man/lady being run over by a bicycle on pavement. Newspapers reported the incident and mentioned that bicycles are not allowed on pavements.

    Over the years it has become common knowledge that bicycles are not allowed on pavements and people have started to cycle on the roads. I am starting to see more and more people take up cycling, but these cyclists are becoming more of a nuisance and road hog, posing not only inconvenience but danger to both themselves and road users.

    I am a driver and cyclist myself and I usually cycle on pavements because I feel it is safer. I will give way to pedestrians when I meet them. Moreover my wife is not a very proficient cyclist, and I think that cycling on the road would be extremely dangerous.

    I have heard from friends that they get fined $50 for cycling on pavements, which I think is ridiculous if they weren’t cycling recklessly. Enforcement should be against any reckless cyclist, be it on the road or pavement.

    I’ve seen countless number of cyclists flout traffic rules, and here is one such incident causing an accident:
    http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/1279106/reckless_cyclist_runs_red_light.html

    Another public video of a cyclist switching lanes recklessly at Jurong East and getting hit by a car (skip the first few seconds of the video):

    Along Woodlands Road all the way to Bukit Timah which I travel daily, the road is already very bumpy, winding and narrow due to the Downtown Line MRT construction:

    • Vehicles will need to keep an entire lane distance just to avoid the cyclists around the bends.
    • During peak hour this causes traffic jams and are a nuisance as bicycles are slow moving vehicles (20-30kph max).
    • These cyclists tend not to stop at traffic lights.

    Also, buses are very wide and use an entire lanes width. Since cyclists keep left and the left lanes are now mostly bus lanes, buses have to make bigger evasive maneuvers to avoid cyclists.

    I would like to suggest that we allow cyclists to cycle on pavements with the exception of electric bicycles which are much heavier and can go very fast (a lot of illegal ones are around nowadays).

    The rationale for my suggestion is:

    1. The probability of a pedestrian getting seriously injured being run over by a bicycle is less than having any form of motor vehicle hit a cyclist.
    2. There is no legislative requirement for cyclists to know traffic rules before they cycle on the road (e.g. basic theory test), and hence difficult to enforce.
    3. There is no legislative requirement for cyclists to be identified (e.g. number plate) and penalized for errant cycling, and hence difficult to enforce.
    4. We should not discourage people from cycling on pavements around the neighborhood. It is a cheap, green and healthy activity and can be a good family activity.
    5. I am aware that there are PCNs but the routes that PCNs take are sometimes not convenient if one uses bicycles as a mode of transport, e.g. to the market.

    Sincerely,
    Justin Lee

  • Cyclists: Road or Pavement?

    After some recent news about cyclists being run over by cars, people started saying things like cars pay for road tax, COE, ERP and hence cyclists need to stay off the road. Cyclists then start saying that their bikes don’t wear off the road. WTF?!

    See this forum discussion.

    I think some people are just damn narrow minded. It’s not about road tax, ERP or COE. It’s about your own safety when cycling.

    Law says you can ride on the road. It does not say you *must* ride on the road if you feel it’s not safe. There are park connectors. Hell screw it, even if there’s no park connectors I will *still* choose to ride on the pavement.

    Same goes for nobody says you *can* walk on the road, but some people still choose to walk on the road.

    And some cocks still choose to cycle 2 abreast on a busy or narrow road. I know the law says you *can*, doesn’t mean you *should*. This shows how selfish people can get. Bicycles are slow moving vehicles, and if you want to talk about rules of the road, then bikes should jolly well KEEP LEFT.

    I am for cycling on pavements, illegal or not.. my safety is my top priority. If the roads are too busy to cycle on, I’ll get on the pavement. On pavements bicycles should give way to human pedestrians, that’s about all we need to do for a peaceful society. I don’t know which civil service idiot said we can’t cycle on pavements. They should shoot themselves. The number of fatalities of cyclists vs. cars is certainly higher than old aunties vs. bicycles.

    Why not on the road? Because our roads are getting too crowded with bus lane and all. It poses even more danger to a cyclist AND other road users. The bicycle is slow and fragile. Riding alongside a road with bus or lorry going at twice its speed is so damn dangerous. People have to swerve to get away from crazy ass cyclists swinging left to right trying to pedal hard to keep up with road traffic speeds.

    Secondly there are lots of traffic rules to abide to when using the roads. A lot of cyclist do not follow these rules. They cycle on the road, then turn onto pedestrian crossings when they meet a red light, or simply beat the light, or turn into filter lanes, or cycle across zebra crossings. Just a few examples of the many many crazy cyclists I’ve seen.

    There’s no control over bicycles on the road. There’s no license plates to identify a person, there’s no (legislative) need to know road traffic rules to ride on the road, there’s no speed limit, no traffic camera — nothing, basically, to enforce that bicycles must adhere to traffic rules.

    And if you start telling me because you have a road bike hence you need to cycle on the road, then I can tell you I have a Ferrari and I should race on the roads too.

    It’s not always about the money. Your life is worth more than that.