I came across this petition while surfing Facebook.

It deals with the ubiquitous e-Scooters that we find zipping around all over the place recently, causing many accidents like this heart-wrenching one.

So far it’s gotten 20 signatures since it was started yesterday.

It reads:

“It is time to ban E-Scooter. These are dangerous today and will be even more dangerous in the years to come when technology improves.

Most of the riders today are quite irresponsible and lately the 70 kph demonstrated the point. They do not have any insurance. They do not know the highway code of being on the road meant for licensed users.

I have seen, and can safely say many others too, that these E-Scooterists would utilize both pedestrians walk path and road meant for vehicles, whenever they feel it was convenient. They are nuisance and worse a danger to park users. As a motorist I really do not know what to expect of them in terms of road practices.

As it is, LTA is short of manpower to police irresponsible cyclists who had caused so many accidents to pedestrians.

Let us not be politically correct about this. Let us nip this problem at the bud before it really gets out of hand.”

I am very inclined to support the petition, but I wouldn’t go so far as to outright ban e-scooters.

Why? Because new technology, however well-intentioned, are tools to make our lives better, not worse. Humans are the masters of technology, and so it is human behavior that needs to change.

But now, the more pressing issue is the danger that e-Scooters pose.

It is very real, and very tragic at times. See this article, and this and this.

We might say that new technology is good and we shouldn’t impede citizens’ access to technology. Technology is the tool by which Man can better himself.

I am supportive of that.

I am also for responsible use. In a society, there are rules to follow and technology is very good at disrupting these rules.

So I would like to propose a compromise instead. A government body should regulate e-Scooters and other motorised transport. It would be silly and backwards to ban e-Scooters because it increases the productivity of Singaporeans and gives us insights into the ways we can make motorised urban transport more affordable and practical for Singaporeans.

So regulation, proper control and guidelines should be the way forward. Bring in all the suppliers of e-Scooters, put a label and license on its owners like vehicles, and make sure that there are sufficient civic rules to govern their use.

That would be a better way forward, don’t you think?

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