Certis Cisco officer who kicked speeding e-scooter rider gets suspended

The man who was kicked off his e-scooter had been evading enforcement officers, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said.

He was riding a non-compliant personal mobility device (PMD) on a road near Bedok North Avenue 3, an LTA spokesperson told AsiaOne.

A team of LTA Active Mobility Enforcement Officers (AMEOs) and Certis Cisco Auxiliary Police Officers (APOs) had been conducting enforcement duties along Bedok Reservoir Road on Dec 10 evening when an APO spotted the e-scooter.

The officer signalled for the rider to stop but the man ignored him and continued zipping down the road. Another officer stationed at the next junction resorted to kicking his device to make him stop.

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The incident was captured by the dashboard camera of a nearby vehicle at the traffic junction, and the clip went viral after it was shared on social media.

In the video, the officer was seen dashing across the road and stopping the runaway e-scooter rider with a kick.

The man lost control of his device and tumbled onto the pavement. He was seen getting up on his feet before falling down.

LTA added that it is investigating offences committed by the e-scooter rider, which include riding an unregistered and non-compliant PMD on public roads and failing to stop his device when required by an officer. The 30.54kg e-scooter, well above the limit of 20kg, was also impounded.

Meanwhile, LTA, Certis and the police are looking into the incident. Certis is contracted to carry out enforcement by LTA but the authority said it does not condone any behaviour that deviates from the established rules of engagement.

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"Established enforcement protocols require officers to note down the appearance of the escaping PMD user as accurately as possible, and lodge a report with LTA," a Certis spokesman said.

“Certis has a zero-tolerance policy against rash acts and will not hesitate to take stern action against officers who are found to be in breach of protocol.”

The APO has been suspended from active duty as he faces a disciplinary inquiry, The Straits Times reported.

A ban on e-scooters on footpaths was introduced on Nov 5, following a string of (sometimes fatal) accidents involving errant riders, pedestrians and other footpath users.

From next year, those found guilty of flouting the rules can be fined up to $2,000 and/or jailed for up to three months.

In addition, from April 2020, all new e-scooters will be required to pass an inspection before they can be registered for use on public paths.

lamminlee@asiaone.com