Woman suffers 7cm gash on foot after brush with electric bicycle on pavement

A short walk out of her estate to retrieve a package turned into a trip to the hospital for one resident, after she suffered a bleeding wound on her foot from a brush with an electric bicycle.

According to Lianhe Wanbao, the incident occurred on July 20 at about 11am, outside a condominium in Woodlands.

The woman, a 36-year-old accountant, told the Chinese evening daily that she had gone out of the estate along with a neighbour to collect her delivery parcels.

As she was waiting for her parcels to be unloaded from the lorry which had parked on the side of the road, the woman described her foot feeling a sudden shot of pain. She looked down and was shocked to see a gaping and bleeding wound on her left foot, near her ankle.

Estimating the gash to be about 7cm long, the woman said she believed her injury was caused by a food delivery rider on an electric bicycle that had whizzed past her.

According to Wanbao, the woman teared as she recounted the incident, describing how her "mind was a blank" at the time. Her neighbours were equally shaken by the incident but jumped in to help, said the woman.

One male resident immediately took off his shirt and wrapped it around the woman's foot to stem the bleeding.

The woman told Wanbao that even though the male delivery rider had seen the commotion, he insisted that he had an "urgent delivery" to make and would return later. However, a neighbour stopped him from leaving the scene.

The woman's husband immediately rushed to his wife's aid upon being notified of the accident and called the police. Thereafter, a neighbour approached the condominium security guards at their post for a first aid kit to bandage the wound. The woman was subsequently taken away in an ambulance to be treated.

The woman's husband, a 45-year-old engineer, said the incident has caused his wife significant emotional distress. He added that the wound required several stitches, with the hospital bill estimated to be about $9,000. However, most of the cost has been covered by insurance, and they've yet to consider if they would claim compensation from the delivery rider.

When interviewed, the 30-year-old rider told Wanbao that he did not intend to run away, adding that he had stayed with the woman until police investigations were completed. He added that he had apologised to the woman and was willing to pay compensation for the accident.

In a response to AsiaOne, the police confirmed that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.

According to regulations by the Land Transport Authority, power-assisted bicycles (PAB) are only allowed on roads and shared paths, such as park connectors. It is also mandatory for cyclists and PAB riders to wear a helmet when riding on roads.

From Jan 1, 2022, all PABs and e-scooter riders would have to pass a mandatory theory test in order to ride on cycling paths and roads (only for PABs).

candicecai@asiaone.com