Is it an offence to ride bicycles on footpaths/pavements?

[s3lina]

I used to cycle everyday in Australia.
It's mandatory to wear a helmet and cycle on the road.....

Yeah, I used to cycle inAussie too, motorists over there are very orderly and u don't get scared riding on roads. In Singapore, I nearly got knocked down and most of my biker friends had at least one accident on roads. I get phobic riding on roads in singapore so I cycle on the pavement most of the time unless there are no heavy traffic. I agree that priorities have to be given to the pedestrians which i always do, unless the government wish to do something about bicycle lanes, then I rather get the fines than risking my life which I nearly lost just a few months ago. And yes, I hold a driving licence so I do know highway code, just that some motorists are very ignorant on cyclists.

Selina..

 

[xray]

It's quite rhetorical to give safety advice to cyclists when it's the bus driver at fault.

The Straits Times wrote this in today's paper. (It seems that you thought I wrote it)

 

[Xaler]

The Straits Times wrote this in today's paper. (It seems that you thought I wrote it)

I saw the "#End of report" line and was referring to the writer of the article

I believe for 2 different class of vehicles to coexist on the road, it takes cooperation. Just look at the number of motorbike related accidents in Singapore and you know it's a hazard for 2-wheelers. I'm not going into whether it's the car or the motorbike's fault here, it's always the 2-wheelers who get injured worse. And accidents do happen on road shoulders too (the part where broken down vehicles are allowed to stop), aren't they meant for safety?

I simply refuse to ride on a main road. Roads are easier to ride on, don't get me wrong, I don't exactly love cycling on pedestrian paths as it is bumpy but being a leisure rider most of the times, seeing at cars zooming past me is enough to scare me. In Australia I cycle with the cars, buses and trucks (an oh yeah, even next to an 18-wheeler although that is pushing it) because drivers there respect the bicycle as another road going vehicle, it even has a handbook for it.

Giving advice should go 2 ways... why didn't The Straits Times writer give advice for the other motorists given the bus driver isn't exactly innocent.

 

[kelccm]

What I can say is that Singapore is still a long way from being a gracious society. There is still not enough basic respect for one and another. How to be more selfless rather than selfish.... :think:

 

[espn]

Read this - http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,79840,00.html?

 

[vince123123]

So do you guys still think there is a "tacit permission" given by the Police in their Dec 2004 report (although the new paper appears to be undated)?

Quoted from TNP: It is against the law to cycle on footpaths or pedestrian crossings. Anyone doing so can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed up to three months.

Read this - http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,79840,00.html?

 

[madmacs]

So do you guys still think there is a "tacit permission" given by the Police in their Dec 2004 report (although the new paper appears to be undated)?

Quoted from TNP: It is against the law to cycle on footpaths or pedestrian crossings. Anyone doing so can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed up to three months.

which is more desirable? paying a fine or losing your life?

 

[Xaler]

Read this - http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,79840,00.html?

Okay, some cyclists speed and ignore all safety regulations. Do the police seriously think by making such rules these "hell-riders" would actually cycle slower? That's naive. As usual, it's always the innocent riders who suffer.

If I really do get fined, there'll be a WTS: Others - Bicycle posting :bsmilie:

 

[reachme2003]

So do you guys still think there is a "tacit permission" given by the Police in their Dec 2004 report (although the new paper appears to be undated)?

Quoted from TNP: It is against the law to cycle on footpaths or pedestrian crossings. Anyone doing so can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed up to three months.

TNP? not reliable or authoritative. clearly not in line with SPF's reply on 18/19 Dec.

 

[xray]

Has anyone given feedback to the Traffic Police about what we feel? Nothing will happen if they don't hear us...

 

[StreetShooter]

Actually the one and only letter I ever wrote to ST forum page quite a few years ago was about this. Asking for bicycle lanes and extolling the virtues of cycling as a form of transport - cheap, non-polluting, healthy, less traffic congestion etc etc. Even suggested employers invest in shower rooms and changing rooms, and that the government invest in wind tunnel infrastructure (lesseee, where's that url? ah yes, here: http://biketrans.com/)

Boy, was I young and naive.

Now I just cycle defensively, believing that every motorist on the road is out to get me. That keeps me alive, I think.

 

[reachme2003]

Has anyone given feedback to the Traffic Police about what we feel? Nothing will happen if they don't hear us...

i think they have done something. follow the threads here.

 

[sammy888]

Boy, was I young and naive.

Now I just cycle defensively, believing that every motorist on the road is out to get me. That keeps me alive, I think.

That's how I cycle around the island too and that included cycling at all the parks' pavement like East Coast..etc. It is actually not that bad. You just have to cycle long enough and get use to the way our local motorists drive around. Each country have their own erractic kiasu drivers. When I do long distance ride into Malaysia, I have to adopt to a difference mentality to deal with their motorists.

It is just like the way every now and again...Singaporeans oversea who rent cars and home trailer vehicles to drive themselves around touring the country and gets into accidents. Fatal at that too. You can't adopt just one expectation or way of driving in Singapore and think it is the same way in another country. As I always say...easier to change yourself as a single person then to try to change others. That is not to say it means accepting them and their bad kiasu ways but it is another way of over coming the problem till something better comes...if it comes that is. In the case of bicycle riding, we just have to adopt a more defensive way of riding. Just cause it is unfair to us cyclist would mean I am force to give up my favorite sport hobby.

Another way to help your self against bad drivers is really to help yourself by learning to ride better. Spend some time in empty places to practice braking, doing tight turnings, learn to look back effectively, learn to use the right gearing, how to cycle in a straight line and not weave around, adopt more courteous riding behavour, learning to plan your route in advance..etc.

You want to wait for the authorities to step in to give us cyclist more rights with road use? In SIngapore? You can wait till the cows come home or Nikon to sell you a 12mp DSLR for less then $500 before you see that happening.

 

[StreetShooter]

I remember about 15 years ago I was in California and I saw this cyclist do a parallel hop onto the pavement on a road bike. One moment he was cycling along the pavement, the next he had hopped sideways onto it. Now THAT's a useful life-saving trick I've always wanted to learn and surprise those bus drivers with - Nyah nyah! Been through all the bunnyhop tutorials but dang I'm just getting too old for these things...