Singapore—Biking has been in the news lately, with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announcing that it is studying the removal of street side parking to build cycling paths, according to a Feb 22 report in the straitstimes.com.
This seems to be a timely development, as more people are expressing the opinion that roads need to be safer for both cyclists and pedestrians.
In a recent report from crowdsourced news site STOMP, where a cyclist fell into a drain when stray dogs ran toward him, commenters said the dogs were not to blame. Some even expressed the opinion that the cyclists are a nuisance.
In a separate STOMP report on Friday (Feb 19), a man named Brandon said he had been driving along Keppel Road, near Tanjong Pagar when he saw 20 people on their bicycles together “hogging the road.”
He posted a video on the site, which he had taken on Feb 17 at about 10.00pm. The half-minute clip indeed shows numerous cyclists taking up two lanes of the road.
Brandon is quoted as saying, “I saw this group of cyclists, kings of the road, taking up two lanes. There was another group of over 20 cyclists behind this group.
The estimated number of cyclists along Keppel Road that night was around 50.”
Last year, the Singapore Cycling Federation announced that people on bicycles are only allowed “to cycle in a group of up to 5 persons– to aid in Contact Tracing (all from the same household or if known to each other).”
Netizens had very strong feelings about the article, pointing out the dangers involved.
Many called for strong action on the part of law enforcement.
Some netizens pointed out that the situation looked like an accident waiting to happen.
One popular comment was that dogs may be necessary to solve this problem.
Others pointed out that groups of that size are not uncommon.
Some netizens began mentioning areas where this happens often.
One netizen pointed out that while not everyone in the cycling community is irresponsible, those who are, end up giving everyone a bad name.
/TISG
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