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Boys caught on video damaging rental bicycles

A video screenshot showing one of the boys damaging the lock of an ofo bike at a HDB void deck.
A video screenshot showing one of the boys damaging the lock of an ofo bike at a HDB void deck.

A boy was caught on video in Singapore damaging the lock of a parked ofo shared rental bicycle and then riding away with it.

In the video circulating on social media, two boys are seen taking the bicycles from their designated parking space at what appears to be the void deck of a HDB block.

One boy uses a hammer-like tool to hit the lock of an ofo bicycle until he is able to unlock it. He also drags away another oBike rental bicycle that was lying flat on the ground.

The two then ride away on the bicycles while still being filmed. The boys’ behaviour was slammed by netizens who watched the video on Facebook.

An ofo spokesperson told Yahoo News Singapore that incidents like that account for less than one per cent of its fleet in Singapore.

“ofo advocates rider responsibility with a number of initiatives, including working with the government agencies to increase the number of designated parking spots, introducing a Credit System which rewards good user behaviour, educating the community on responsible biking practices, and encouraging the public to report these incidents on our channels, such as ofo Facebook page and app,” the spokesperson added.

Tim Phang, General Manager of oBike Singapore, said, “Since our launch, we have had a few who abused our bikes either by dismantling them or throwing them into canals. This was disappointing.”

“We would like to think that majority of our users do see the value in our service and use our bikes responsibly. We urge all users to treat our bikes as if they would their own,” he added.

In November, a couple drew the public’s ire after a video of them tossing oBike bicycles into a drain near Lower Delta Road went viral. The incident prompted oBike to lodge a police report.

According to media reports, the couple later turned themselves in to the police.

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Humans ruined bike-sharing in Singapore so now bikes need parking zones