It is true that we should enforce and support the rule that a bicycle is a vehicle on the road . Still I like to share what I learnt in my motorbike license. We are now taught Defensive Riding which basically in summary is : Respect the Ride of Way but Do Not Expect the Right of Way. The Defensive Riding lessons also shows that : The number of cyclists fatalities is the same as that of motorcar drivers for the past 3 years.

As vehicles – motorbikes or bicycles, we do have the right on the road. It is still better to not expect the right of way and ride defensively.

P.S: I have a car license, learning my motorbike and I cycle at least once a month on the road between NUS and Serangoon.

Just checking … has anyone got back to you yet?

If not, it’ll be good to touch base with Steven SCTF’s President first at safecyclingsg@pacific.net.sg

Thanks!

Kind regards
theodore

I am Kunal Katarya, from Raffles Institution , and am doing a school Social Studies project about cycling as an alternate means of transport in Singapore. The Safe Cycle Task Force is an ideal organization for us (my group and I) to gain expert feedback and opinions on this matter; as such we sincerely hope that we can conduct a short interview with one of the people from the SCTF. I have also emailed you on this matter, and do hope that you can get back to me as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Kunal Katarya

A helmet camera is a REALLY GOOD toy!

I got mine at Sim Lim square, 2nd floor. I don’t want to say which model, there are a few, they are water-safe, record on a memory card and connect to a PC or TV by cable. The cool thing is that they record and overwrite, and the one I have does a little vibration when I switch it on on my head, so it is really quite easy to have it on all time when riding. Fixing it on the helmet wasn’t too easy, in the end I used 2 long cable binders from a DIY shop, and placed a bit soft material below. This bright yellow thing sits next to 2 super light on top of the helmet, looks a bit special yes.

Ok, what do I do with all these recordings? 2 categories:

1) I sometimes watch just for fun, something funny on the road, how I was riding, offroading or in dense riding conditions. Sometimes also useful to recap a situation, was this really scary, strange, or what? Replay.

2) If someone almost killed me, then I have no mercy, sorry guys. I screenshot the pictures out, capture the situation, driver, and number plate and Email the pictures as a report to SPF_Feedback_TP@spf.gov.sg, which takes me only minutes. Also, naturally this doesn’t happen too often, maybe once a month. The TP staff there is really diligent, they send a hard copy letter back and confirm the reporting of a hazardous driver. I once called back and confirmed, a person who almost knocked me off the road when turning got 6 points.

Additionally, I feel that there are two more good effects while I ride with this helmet decoration: I had a few situations where I am sure drivers saw my camera and then had more respect (point fear?) and did NOT cut into my lane. Second, this think on the head makes you adhering 100% to all traffic rules now, not 99%, because recording what you do you makes you also more conscious of the rules cyclist shell adhere to.

Highly recommended!

Cheers H

“according to another SG blog, the interaction between cyclists and cars is documented “in the 6th Edition of the Advanced Theory Manual by the Traffic Police, it is on pages 92-93, points 203 – 206.”

So, I assume you don’t have this book yourself correct? I asked a few friends and neighbors, none seems to have or know of this obscure book. Now I have this book, plus the “New Highway Code”. Both books are 3 $ (Popular book store).

First point: Yes, a few things are clear on these pages 92 and 93 (I copied this part and will give it to every car that cuts me now.. I also like to upload this material here, see below):

- “When turning: do not make a sharp turn as you may knock them down”
- “When overtaking, keep a safe distance between your vehicle etc..”

That’s it, 2 point are made. What is NOT clear:

- Is the bicycle a vehicle? (in other parts of the highway code, cyclists and pedestrians are often mentioned together!).
- What is a “safe distance”, 1.5 m? Not defined. Maybe 5 cm a bus driver considers safe?
- Many more instances where danger lurks, for instance cars that do a right run, do they need to take care of oncoming cyclists or not? Unclear/undefined.

Besides this lack of rules, what really strikes me: in Singapore, where almost everything is online, transparent and modern, these traffic rules seem to be very hidden, show up in one book or another that seems to be deisgned in the 70ies (with the notion on the back: “No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner or medium etc etc..”!).

Compare this to other developed countries like UK, Australia, you name it, of course they have all their traffic RULES and LAWS online. With these books, I am not even clear whether these are laws, rules or just teaching materials?

I did q quick check, in Germany (my old home), we have the traffic LAW online (http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/stvo/gesamt.pdf), all the cycling rules I can find in 1 min. For instance, there is a a crystal clear rule for the case of right turn (well, in Germany left turn) and oncoming cyclists, you have to give way etc. In Singapore, such details are still unclear to me, even after all this discussion and investigation! very strange.

I find this unclear, nontransparent situation in Singapore quite pathetic, and quite untypical for Singapore in some way. Can this organization please try to do something about it?

I will do 2 things: I will go to my MP and investigate, propose to bring this to parliament. Second, i will write to the publisher of this book and ask if the 2 pages on cycling rules could be published on this webpage, at least we could be all clear what these rules are, they should not be secret, all of us have to be able to see them even without paying the 3 $.

I have another story to tell, about my helmet camera, I will do this another day!

Cheers Hannes

You are to ride in single file – and not abreast.. and on the left side of the road…

PLEASE PLEASE cherish your life – do NOT use RULES and try to assume that drivers will ALWAYS and MUST ALWAYS give way to you… be defensive… instead.

Safe riding .

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/ohs/safetyforeveryone/Documents/Singapore%20Laws%20on%20Cycling.pdf

so there you go hannes.

It is good that you are thinking of conducting safe cycling clinics to educate cyclists on how to cycle safely, I feel, based on past experiences, that it is an effective way to impart the knowledge of safe cycling on.

We are currently conducting Safe Cycling Clinics in Tampines and Pasir Ris Town and some adhoc request from primary schools. At the moment it is not a regular session but clinics will be incorporated into the grassroots events. We touch on some essential traffic rules in the clinics but not go into details. Your project sounds like an incorporation of our current clinics, so if you were to provide me with more details on the project like the date, time and place etc, we can see what we can do about it.

May I suggest you drop me an email (safecyclingsg@pacific.net.sg) with your contact number and I will see if I get back to you soon enough

Hope this helps you.

Cheers!

Steven