S$5,500 fine for woman, 67, who rode unregistered e-scooter on road, hurt auxiliary police officer she evaded

SINGAPORE — While riding an e-scooter on the road to work on the morning of Aug 23 last year, Zaharah Sa'at saw an auxiliary police officer signalling her to stop.

Instead of complying or slowing down, she rode on in an attempt to evade the officer because she was afraid of facing enforcement action, only to end up hitting and injuring him.

Under the Active Mobility Act, personal mobility devices (PMDs) such as electric scooters cannot be used on roads, footpaths or on pedestrian-only paths.

On Tuesday (Dec 20), the 67-year-old Malaysian woman was handed a fine of S$5,500 after she pleaded guilty to one charge each of riding a PMD on the road and committing a rash act endangering the safety of others. Her victim is 52 years old. 

The court heard that at the time of the incident, she was working as a cleaner.

The victim Lek Yong Hock, who was employed with security firm Certis Cisco, was conducting enforcement operations around the Chua Chu Kang area.

He saw Zaharah riding along Teck Whye Avenue without wearing a helmet.

He tried to stop her and stepped onto the road, with the e-scooter moving towards his direction.

Zaharah knew that riding an e-scooter on the road was prohibited and was afraid of being brought to task, so she did not stop or slow down when signalled to do so.

She wanted to ride past Mr Lek but struck him instead, causing him to fall backwards and hit the back of his head on the ground.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jonathan Lee told the court: “She subsequently abandoned the PMD and fled on foot. She attempted to board a bus but was later stopped by other Certis Cisco and Land Transport Authority (LTA) officers.”

Mr Lek was taken to the hospital and given five days of medical leave for the injuries to his head, jaw, arm and calf.

LTA’s prosecuting officer Darren Toh told the court that Zaharah would have been very well-aware that she was breaking the law when riding the e-scooter on the road, since she had been given composition fines before for PMD-related offences.

Her e-scooter was also not registered and was not compliant with the UL2272 fire safety standard, thereby violating regulations as well.

Zaharah, who was not represented by a lawyer, pleaded with the judge through an interpreter for the lightest sentence possible on account of her older age.

For riding a PMD on the road, she could have been fined up to S$2,000 or jailed for up to three months, or both.

For committing a rash act endangering the life of another person, she could have been jailed for up to a year or fined up to S$5,000, or both.