Singapore – “PAB (power-assisted bicycle) rider doing food delivery? You’d better just dress like you look like an Aunty because LTA (Land Transport Authority) will not issue you a ticket,” said a member of the public after witnessing the authorities let off a woman though she broke the rules.
Mr Justin Kon took to Complaint Singapore’s Facebook page on Monday (May 3) to share an incident that happened the previous day.
He witnessed a woman being stopped by LTA officers along the T junction of Marsiling Rise and Woodlands Ave 5 on May 2 because she was riding on the footpath and did not have a helmet on.
The “aunty” was spoken to and let off, said Mr Kon, who attached a corresponding video in his post.
Mr Kon explained that he and the “aunty” took the lift down together earlier, and she went on the footpath while he took the road.
“I managed to take that video because it was a red light at the junction, and I just had to capture it because I somehow knew what was going to happen; yes, she getting off scot-free,” he said. “True enough, she wasn’t issued a summon.”
He confronted the enforcement officers. “Clearly, they did not want to admit their mistake and told me I should write in to LTA or post whatever I wanted to,” said Mr Kon.
He attached a video of his conversation with the officers, noting he spent more than 30 minutes talking with them rather than making his delivery as he felt “it was a serious breach of public trust”.
“I asked the officer across the road if he saw the incident, he said ‘Yes.’”
“I asked if the cameras they are wearing can see and record the incident, he said ‘Yes.’”
“So guys, with that video, LTA is telling us, ‘It’s ok to disregard the law, we will see who we feel like issuing a summon to that day.’”
To add context to his post, Mr Kon explained that this was not the first time he had seen people go scot-free while riding on footpaths. However, food delivery riders are issued a summons immediately, he noted.
He mentioned that cyclists without helmets are also not summonsed.
“As quoted by the LTA officer, catching PAB riders are their priority; the rest ain’t as important.”
Mr Kon added he had written to the LTA over a year ago to highlight his concerns but did not receive an adequate response.
He went into detail questioning the logic behind certain rules such as a “S$300 fine for PAB riders riding on a footpath while vehicles on the road get a S$100 or so fine for speeding which could be waived”.
“As a food delivery rider, you see the good, the bad and the ugly side of riders, the public, and of course enforcement,” he said.
“Stop the double standards, stop the persecution of vehicles, go after the errant users of whatever vehicle it may be,” he added./TISG
/TISG
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