Singapore’s Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Baey Yam Keng on Friday announced that e-scooter and electric bicycle riders will soon have to take “mandatory theory tests.” The tests will help ensure all riders of such motorized devices are aware of the existing rules and codes of conduct.
While no exact date was given, he specified that the tests will start from the middle of this year. A test handbook will be released next month.
The announcement comes a year after the government first accepted recommendations on e-scooter usage from the Active Mobility Advisory Panel (AMAP). The panel previously proposed that e-scooter riders should be at least aged 16 and pass a theory test first before they are allowed to ride in public. Those below the age of 16 require adult supervision.
Baey announced that all bicycles used on public paths and roads will also be required to have at least one functioning handbrake, with effect from September 2021, following a fatal accident involving a brakeless bicycle last year. Accidents involving motorized personal devices (PMDs) on footpaths have decreased by almost 80%, to 30 in 2020 after 144 in the previous year.
This article was originally published by Vulcan Post.