If bicycles are allowed on footpaths, license them

SINGAPORE - I refer to reader Loh Che Wei's letter, "Restrict cycling on roads to off-peak hours" (The New Paper, Oct 21), which also called for legalising cycling on footpaths islandwide.

If the authorities accede to this request, then all bicycles should be licensed.

Even though many cars have dashboard cameras, the videos of cyclists breaking the law may not help as long as bicycles do not have licence plates.

Indeed, errant cyclists often seem to escape, with no enforcement action taken against them. Nowhere is this clearer than at MRT stations.

Cyclists impede handicap-access ramps by chaining their bikes to the rails, despite clear signs against this. Repeated requests to bring back bicycle registration have been met with the argument that it would be too cumbersome.

I find that rather ironic considering that with the Certificate of Entitlement, we have one of the world's most complicated car-registration system.

I have also been told that bicycle registration is not practised in the UK and other parts of the world.

That may be true, except that in London, cycling is not allowed on footpaths.

Finally, in the midst of all this concern for the safety of cyclists and motorists, we should not forget another major group of road users: pedestrians.

A lot more needs to be done before footpath cycling is made legal islandwide.

Reader Allan Tay

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