Campaign launched in Sembawang to encourage residents to cycle safely as more take to it amid pandemic
SINGAPORE – Mr Shafiq Arifin, who often cycles in his neighbourhood in Sembawang West, has had his fair share of near misses with other two-wheelers.
Some cyclists do not keep to the left when cycling on shared paths, or do not check their blind spots when cutting across the often narrow pathway, he said.
Many also do not have front or rear lights, so it can difficult to spot them at night.
“Luckily, I have managed avoid collisions,” the 29-year-old public health officer added.
He was one of about 30 grassroots volunteers who were out on Tuesday (Aug 31) to spread the word about safe cycling as part of a ground-up campaign that was launched in collaboration with the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM), Sembawang Town Council and the Safe Cycling Task Force.
Dressed in yellow T-shirts with courtesy icon Singa the Lion and the tagline “Be Kind, Ride Safe”, they gave out bright yellow drawstring bags to cyclists at various hot spots around Sembawang West while reminding them to ride safely.
Ms Poh Li San, an MP for Sembawang GRC, was with the volunteers.
Congested footpaths and pedestrian safety have become concerns among residents in her ward of Sembawang West, as more people have taken up cycling amid the pandemic.
Many who work in the industrial estates in Sembawang West also live nearby and commute to their factories on bicycles. Meanwhile, there are also many grandparents who take their grandchildren to school in the neighbourhood.
“During rush hour, it gets quite bad, especially in the morning,” Ms Poh said.
While the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has plans to add more cycling paths in her ward, this will take time. “I thought instead of waiting… let’s do something that promotes safety and a considerate cycling culture,” she said.
“With enforcement, we are playing a cat-and-mouse game… so it is really down to education.”
Grassroots volunteers will continue to patrol hot spots in the ward for the next couple of months.
Standees with key safety messages have also been placed at these hot spots, and stickers with similar messages have been put on lift doors in the neighbourhood.
Ms Poh said she is working with the town council to add more bicycle parking spaces at void decks, and working with condominiums to convert some of their parking spaces into ones for bicycles to address the issue of inconsiderate parking.
Over the next two weeks, volunteers will also be engaging workers from companies such as Seagate and Old Chang Kee, which have factories in Sembawang West.
Said Ms Poh: “It won’t be perfect but hopefully it will help to some extent. I hope if this works here, we can do it nationally.”
Earlier this year, the LTA, Traffic Police and the Singapore Road Safety Council were involved in outreach efforts to promote safe cycling on the roads here.
This was part of a series of engagements in different parts of Singapore, first launched by Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim in Nee Soon GRC, where he is an MP.
Mr K. Shanmugam, anchor minister of the GRC, said in a Facebook post last week that it has worked with the LTA to build additional cycling paths in the constituency.
The Home Affairs and Law Minister added that he and his fellow MPs have identified cycling paths around Yishun Central which needed to be upgraded quickly, and these works are expected to be completed by next year.
Additional paths along Yishun Ring Road will also be built to extend the existing cycling path network, he said. By 2023, Nee Soon residents can expect 26km of cycling paths when the full network is completed.
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