Children, cyclists the focus of Road Safety Month

SINGAPORE — The Singapore Road Safety Month has returned for its fourth year, this time with a new programme that focuses on cyclists.

The Safe Cycling Programme will feature both theory and practical sessions that convey safe cycling habits in an easy-to-remember and fun manner.

The half-day course will cover cycling knowledge from before the ride up to when cyclists are on the roads.

It will teach participants how to conduct basic checks on their bicycles before they set off, how to plan a cycling route, and how to use cycling facilities properly and with good etiquette.

The Safe Cycling Programme will reach out to migrant workers, students and the community at large.

For a start, it will be conducted at locations such as workers’ dormitories, schools and community centres, before being rolled out on a larger scale to the public at the end of this year.

In line with the theme of inculcating road safety among the young and cyclists, this year’s event will see the launch of the “Stop, Look, Wave” Children’s Road Safety Programme, jointly organised by the Singapore Road Safety Council and Volvo Trucks, and the Safe Cycling Programme pilot by the Land Transport Authority.

Speaking at the launch of Road Safety Month at Qihua Primary School yesterday, Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, who is Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Social and Family Development, said: “Many people have told me that they would like to cycle, but they feel that it is not safe, especially on the roads. I understand how they feel.”

The authorities are trying to build dedicated cycling paths wherever they can, but it is not possible to construct one everywhere, he noted.

“We cannot always find space to build dedicated paths, and there will be occasions where cyclists will have to share space with cars or pedestrians.

“It is therefore important that cyclists do so safely, both for their own benefit and the benefit of other road or path users,” Assoc Prof Faishal said. CHANNEL NEWSASIA