Man dies after falling off e-scooter in Tanah Merah Coast Road

SINGAPORE - A 30-year-old man died in hospital on Tuesday morning (Sept 24) after he fell off his e-scooter in Tanah Merah Coast Road.

Preliminary investigations suggest that he lost control of his e-scooter, police said on Friday.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it responded to a call for assistance at 3.45am on Tuesday, and that a man was taken to Changi General Hospital.

The man was pronounced dead at the hospital at 6.20am, which was when the police were alerted.

The man had serious spine injuries and had many fractures after he fell off his personal mobility device (PMD), his former colleague told Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily News.

There were 228 reported accidents involving PMDs on public paths in 2017 and 2018, with 196 of them resulting in injuries.

Of these, there was one death – a PMD rider who skidded and died from his injuries.

There were 32 cases which involved major injuries, such as concussions or fractures.

On Wednesday, Madam Ong Bee, a 65-year-old logistics assistant packer, died after she was seriously injured in an accident involving her bicycle and an e-scooter in Bedok last Saturday. She had been in a coma at Changi General Hospital’s surgical intensive care unit.

The Land Transport Authority later said on Thursday that the e-scooter involved exceeded the prescribed weight and width limit for use on public paths under the Active Mobility Act.

The accident has prompted public calls to better regulate PMD riders. A five-month-old petition on Change.org calling for a ban on PMDs and e-bikes has been submitted to the authorities, after a sharp rise in the number of signatures following Madam Ong’s accident.

On Tuesday morning, the online petition had about 9,000 signatures, but the number grew to more than 50,000 by 5pm on Friday.

On Friday, the Active Mobility Advisory Panel issued a set of recommendations to the Government to better regulate the riding of PMDs.

These measures include a minimum age of 16 for PMD riders and a theory test that riders have to pass before they are allowed on public paths.

Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min, in a Facebook post, said the Ministry of Transport will study these recommendations and provide its response in due course.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.