PMD user who rode on footpath and hit young girl fined
SINGAPORE — A 28-year-old man riding an unregistered and non-compliant personal mobility device (PMD) on a public footpath last year hit a seven-year-old pedestrian in a bid to evade enforcement officers from the Land Transport Authority (LTA), a court heard.
Mohammad Haziq Ismail then cut across the road, went against the flow of traffic and weaved in between vehicles.
He managed to get away and sold his device the next day, but policemen eventually traced him and arrested him earlier this year.
At the State Courts on Thursday (8 April), Haziq was fined $4,500 after he pleaded guilty to doing a negligent act which endangers the personal safety of others, riding a PMD on a road and riding a non-compliant PMD on a footpath.
About the case
On 25 August last year, at about 6.30pm, a uniformed LTA enforcement officer on patrol along Woodlands Avenue 1 saw Haziq riding his PMD on a public footpath and approached him and told him to stop. Haziq was on his way to buy food at a nearby shopping mall.
"The accused did not stop, and instead did a U-turn on the public footpath without checking in order to ride away from the LTA officers. He did so as he knew that his PMD was non-compliant with legal requirements (he had been notified previously by LTA) and wanted to evade arrest," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Ho.
"While making the U-turn, the accused failed to keep a proper lookout, and collided into the victim (who was with her father at the time), hitting the victim’s right forearm area. The victim did not fall down, and did not suffer any visible injury," he added.
Undeterred, Haziq cut across a grass verge on the road, and then cut across the road with traffic approaching from his right.
With another LTA enforcement officer giving chase, Haziq went against the flow of traffic and weaved between vehicles, which had to slow down or stop because of him. He eventually got away.
The next day, the culprit sold his PMD to another man for $450.
Haziq knew that his PMD was unregistered and non-compliant as he had previously registered it under his name, said LTA prosecutor Benedict Cheong. But the device was deregistered as the model became non-compliant on 1 July last year.
He also failed to stop despite multiple warning by LTA enforcement officers, both on the footpath and on the road.
Police officers traced him and arrested him on 29 January.
For committing a negligent act endangering the life or personal safety of others, Haziq could have been jailed for up to three months and/or fined up to $1,500.
The punishment for riding a PMD on a road is up to three months' jail and/or a fine of up to $2,000. Repeat offenders can be jailed up to six months and/or fined up to $5,000.
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