SINGAPORE: The government has moved to ban electric scooters from riding on footpaths in the city-state, starting on Tuesday, citing a string of injuries when motorised scooters have collided with pedestrians.
People who ride their e-scooters on footpaths will be liable to a fine up to S$2,000 (about 44,400 baht) and/or three months in jail, Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min said in parliament on Monday.
The law will operate in an advisory way until the end of this year, after which it will be more stringently enforced.
E-scooters have become a popular option for commuters in Singapore, one of the most expensive places in the world to own a car.
Yet with widespread adoption has come a string of injuries, including at least one death. In September, a 20-year-old e-scooter rider was arrested after a collision which left a 65-year-old cyclist in a coma from which she ultimately died. There have also been fire hazard worries after some caught fire while charging at home.
Singapore’s ban shows how governments are having to adapt and form new rules as new innovations such as e-scooters and e-bikes threaten to disrupt urban transportation means that authorities are used to regulating for decades, with Japan, France and several US cities banning their use on footpaths or mulling bans entirely.
“We expected the co-sharing of footpaths to be challenging,” the minister said, adding that the government had hoped e-scooter users 'would be gracious and responsible. Unfortunately, this was not so.”
E-scooters in Singapore are already banned from roadways. While they will still be allowed on cycling paths, the move will effectively curb their usage for many commercial clientele. The government said it will work with food delivery companies like Grab, Deliveroo and FoodPanda to switch their delivery drivers who use e-scooters to bikes and motorcycles.