<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Cycling on footpaths - a question of enforcement too
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Monday's letter, "Shared footpaths: Why no update?", by Mr Thomas Lee.
The reader has given voice to questions in the minds of residents in many parts of Singapore.
When the Tampines Town Council started the trial of allowing cycling on footpaths, I wondered at the time about the need to give permission for something that is already a norm in other places, such as at the Marine Parade area where I live.
Ever since I moved there in 2002, I have noticed cyclists using the footpaths as a matter of right. All the behaviours Mr Lee cited in his letter are common among cyclists in this area too. These cyclists pose a clear and imminent danger to pedestrians, and no town council or Traffic Police action has ever been forthcoming.
The lack of enforcement is not limited to cyclists on the footpaths. It also extends to the pedestrian underpasses leading to East Coast Park. Notices are prominently displayed that a $1,000 fine is likely for those who violate the "No cycling inside the underpass" rule.
In spite of these notices, a vast majority of the cyclists using the two underpasses that I use regularly, No. 50263 (near Siglap Road) and No. 50267 (near Marine Parade estate), merrily ride their bicycles right through. Many often ride at great speeds and also create a ruckus by ringing their bells, as if to tell hapless pedestrians to stay clear.
There is no point in having rules that are not enforced. I see no purpose in the police reminding the public that cycling on footpaths in areas other than Tampines is illegal. If enforcement is a problem, the concerned agency should admit it. If town councils have decided to allow cycling on footpaths all over the city, or if the relevant agency has decided not to enforce the rules, they should officially announce so.
Hariharan Gangadharan
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Monday's letter, "Shared footpaths: Why no update?", by Mr Thomas Lee.
The reader has given voice to questions in the minds of residents in many parts of Singapore.
When the Tampines Town Council started the trial of allowing cycling on footpaths, I wondered at the time about the need to give permission for something that is already a norm in other places, such as at the Marine Parade area where I live.
Ever since I moved there in 2002, I have noticed cyclists using the footpaths as a matter of right. All the behaviours Mr Lee cited in his letter are common among cyclists in this area too. These cyclists pose a clear and imminent danger to pedestrians, and no town council or Traffic Police action has ever been forthcoming.
The lack of enforcement is not limited to cyclists on the footpaths. It also extends to the pedestrian underpasses leading to East Coast Park. Notices are prominently displayed that a $1,000 fine is likely for those who violate the "No cycling inside the underpass" rule.
In spite of these notices, a vast majority of the cyclists using the two underpasses that I use regularly, No. 50263 (near Siglap Road) and No. 50267 (near Marine Parade estate), merrily ride their bicycles right through. Many often ride at great speeds and also create a ruckus by ringing their bells, as if to tell hapless pedestrians to stay clear.
There is no point in having rules that are not enforced. I see no purpose in the police reminding the public that cycling on footpaths in areas other than Tampines is illegal. If enforcement is a problem, the concerned agency should admit it. If town councils have decided to allow cycling on footpaths all over the city, or if the relevant agency has decided not to enforce the rules, they should officially announce so.
Hariharan Gangadharan
