Singapore — A cyclist was fined for exceeding the 10 kilometres per hour speed limit on the Rail Corridor, sparking a lengthy debate among netizens.
One Zhen Yang took to Facebook page SG PCN Cyclist on Wednesday (Oct 27) to share a Notice of Offence received by the National Parks Board (NParks).
“Contributing to nation-building. (Just sharing for awareness, the modus operandi is so obvious),” the post noted.
The offence consisted of riding a bicycle on a footpath at 17 km/h in excess of the 10 km/h speed limit specified by signage.
“This is in contravention of Reg 4(2)(b) of the Parks and Trees Regulations,” noted NParks.
The composition amount for the offence was S$300.
In response to the incident, members from the online community explained why certain areas of the Park Connector Network (PCN) had a separate speed limit different from the 25 km/h rule.
“This is the background story. It started with errant cyclists speeding among crowds. According to NParks website, there are narrow paths, and with the high human traffic, cyclists are reminded to slow down and dismount when necessary,” said Facebook user Ben Tzq, providing a link to NParks and the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s reply on the issue.
Others posted images of the 10km/h signage along the area.
Meanwhile, a couple of netizens wondered if the same regulation would be imposed on runners.
“Perhaps the speed limit needs to be revised. I was running at 10km per 40 mins easily as a man. are they going to arrest any runners exceeding 10km/h run?” asked Facebook user Jeffrey Yeo.
However, others clarified that the regulations were in place to protect everyone on the PCN. “The reason for the lower speed limit on cyclists is that it takes more time to stop, the added weight of a bicycle on impact is greater, and cyclists can’t ‘move aside’ as quickly as a pedestrian can,” a netizen said.
One Gp Yee explained in detail why pedestrians would be seriously injured should a collision with a cyclist occur.
“17kmh is 4.72m per second. An average person reaction time is about 3 seconds. No pedestrian on a pavement is on a constant lookout for collision coming from 13m away.”
“A 60kg mass travelling at 17km/h will generate a 283N force impact on a stationary object. This is why we can find in the news of pedestrians seriously injured when collided with a cyclist,” the netizen explained.
“A pedestrian should feel and be safe on a pedestrian path. This regulation came into force because of several such high-profile accidents. We are lucky that the authorities did not reverse the regulation and make it illegal to cycle on a pedestrian pavement. So, rather than complaining about the restrictive speed, what can we do as a community to help other pavement users to feel safe.” /TISG
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