Cycle safety in spotlight
PUBLISHED ONApril 02, 2014 9:00 PMByChan U-gene
SINGAPORE - Congestion, poor cycling etiquette, a growing number of participants and conflicting expectations of the event led to accidents at the OCBC Cycle Singapore.
Cyclists whom The Straits Times spoke to said there was a high occurrence of congestion and crashes in the mass ride categories on Sunday, which saw more than 10,000 participants taking part.
First-time participant Kenneth Tham, 39, who witnessed two accidents, was then involved in a third himself on the downward slope of the Benjamin Sheares Bridge.
Though the hairstylist emerged unscathed, he said the other rider needed to be taken to hospital by ambulance.
Organisers reported that 19 riders were sent to the hospital, with 16 treated and discharged on the same day.
Two, who are in stable condition, remain warded while national serviceman Chia Wee Kiat is in the intensive care unit of Singapore General Hospital because of a serious head injury.
Said Tham, who rides about three to four times a week: "There are bound to be accidents on downward slopes like that.
"Maybe some riders haven't ridden downslope before and they panic, jam their brakes and fall. The people behind them will fall too."
He suggested that for areas where problems could arise, the organisers should place more warning signs or increase the numbers of medical personnel.
"We are riding on the road and accidents can't be 100 per cent prevented," noted Tham.
"But could they have responded better and quicker?"
Yasser Amin, 18, who participated for the third time this year, hopes that the organisers can better tackle the issue of congestion that comes from more people taking part in the event.
Said the student who faced three bottlenecks throughout his 40km ride and had to slow down for one to two minutes each time: "I encountered more bottlenecks this year compared to last year.
"There were just too many people this year."
But the organisers - Spectrum Worldwide - said they had allowed only a 173-rider increase in the mass participation categories this year.
Another participant, Ng Hock Lee, 39, also witnessed two accidents - at the bridge and the East Coast area.
Said the accountant who spotted cyclists straying into the path of oncoming bicycles: "A lot of people are blaming the organisers but I think it is also in part due to individual riders and riders' etiquette.
"Some are very impatient and cycle across the dividers. If everyone has the consciouness to cycle safely, a lot of these things won't happen."
Spectrum's managing director Chris Robb said his staff had stressed to the participants that the rides on Sunday were a community event, as opposed to the competitive races on Friday.
He said: "The safety of our participants is our top priority. Our goal is to minimise the number of accidents which, unfortunately, cannot be totally eradicated in sports events."
"For safety reasons, we capped the number of participants and communicated to them that the event is a ride, as opposed to a competitive race, in all our pre-event material and on-site announcements."
Spectrum also reduced the number of overlapping routes from two to one to reduce congestion this year.
Said Koh Ching Ching, head of group corporate communications of OCBC Bank, the event's sponsors: "Every year, we work closely with Spectrum to ensure that all safety aspects are thoroughly considered and that measures are put in place to ensure the safety of all participants."
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.