Misuse of Personal Mobility Devices for Food Delivery Service

Recently, I met parents of a young boy who was knocked down by a delivery rider on a Personal Mobility Aid (“PMA”) . They pointed out that the rider was actually perfectly capable of walking and appears to have misused the PMA, which is for mobility challenged persons, for food delivery services. This led to me filing a PQ on the matter asking if there is any upstream engagement with the delivery companies. In his reply, the Minister for Transport, Minister Iswaran informed that there are regulations in place to deal with the matter. He also said that there is an ongoing review of the rules and regulations applicable to PMAs which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. My PQ and Minister Iswaran’s answer may be accessed below:

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Transport (a) whether there has been upstream engagement with food delivery platforms to address the problem of able-bodied delivery riders misusing personal mobility aids, which are designed for the elderly and handicapped, to make deliveries; and (b) what measures have been introduced to discourage such misuse amongst delivery riders.

Mr S Iswaran: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has regulations in place to ensure that personal mobility aids (PMAs) are used safely and responsibly. These include disallowing the use of PMAs on roads and having a 10km/h speed limit on public paths. The LTA conducts regular enforcement islandwide to ensure users comply with these regulations.

The Active Mobility Advisory Panel is reviewing the rules and regulations

applicable to PMAs, which is expected to be completed by end of the year. It has been engaging various stakeholders, including food delivery platforms, persons with mobility challenges, occupational therapists, medical professionals, among others.