E-scooter rider taken to hospital after crash with lorry in Sengkang

E-scooter rider taken to hospital after crash with lorry in Sengkang

A female e-scooter rider was injured in an accident with a lorry at the junction of Sengkang East Road and Sengkang Square on Monday (Aug 27).

The police, who were alerted at 9.47am, said the victim, 34, was conscious when she was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

The New Paper understands her injuries were not serious.

Mr Ng Nyian Onn, 36, who works at a fruit stall nearby, said he heard the loud screech of a vehicle braking suddenly.

When he turned around, he saw a woman lying on the road.

A photograph taken by a reader of Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao shows the woman's e-scooter wedged below the front of a white lorry. One of its windscreen wipers was on the road.

A witness told Wanbao that the woman's arms and legs were bleeding and she could not move. She is believed to have been crossing the road or waiting to cross when the accident happened.

E-scooters are allowed only on footpaths and shared paths and not on roads or pedestrian-only paths.

Employees from a nearby Shell petrol kiosk and passersby went to help the injured woman, Mr Ng said.

The male lorry driver got out to check on her and stayed be-hind after an ambulance, which arrived within minutes, took her to the hospital, he said.

A Shell worker who declined to be named said her colleague helped set up traffic cones to direct oncoming vehicles.

Police said investigations are ongoing.

Mr Ng, a permanent resident from Malaysia, told TNP he had seen at least three traffic accidents at the junction since he started working at the fruit stall 10 months ago.

He added that he often saw cyclists and personal mobility device (PMD) users in the area.

The number of reported accidents involving PMDs, bicycles and power-assisted bicycles on public paths has gone up from 19 cases in 2015 to 128 last year.

SUGGESTIONS

To reduce the number of such accidents and improve safety, the Active Mobility Advisory Panel made new recommendations last Friday.

They include making it mandatory for active mobility device users to stop and look out at road crossings and reducing the speed limit on footpaths from 15kmh to 10kmh.

The Ministry of Transport said it will study the recommendations before responding.

This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.

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