Non-Vehicles On The Road

It used to be just cyclists which drivers had to contend with on the roads. In recent times, we’re seeing other forms of transportation gadgetry, like motorised micro-scooters, e-monocycles and hover boards, coming onboard to compete for road space. It is high time that the regulators take a clear position and decide if and how these non-vehicles fit on our roads.

It was already bad enough with cyclists. I don’t take a very biased position with respect to cyclists on the roads, partly because I used to cycle lots on the roads too, and while I don’t anymore for many years, I also don’t rule out that I might do that again in future. But the truth is that every other day, I’ll have an irksome encounter.

This morning, for example, I saw this very gung-ho cyclist travelling on the right-most side of the road. He entered the roundabout from the right. I don’t know, maybe cyclists believe that’s the safest way to negotiate a roundabout? Regardless, at some point you’d have to exit the roundabout, and the only way to do that is, of course, go to the left. This cyclist did so by cutting across the many lanes to the left-most side. However, upon exiting, he cut back immediately to the right-most side of the road.

I liken this sort of behaviour to that of a reckless motorcyclist. They weave in and out of traffic, cutting across lanes because they can.

It’s bad enough that cyclists are claiming their rights to use the road.

In recent news, you might remember the accident involving two electric micro-scooters that beat a red-light to collide with a car. The riders of the electric micro-scooters had a blatant disregard for traffic regulations. What irks me in situations like this is their mentality that traffic regulations don’t apply to them.

That’s not the end of it. I’ll tell you, I’ve also seen those electric monocycles occupying a whole lane of a road, as riding along as if they were a car. Upon arriving at a traffic junction, the rider instantly rode on like a pedestrian.

It’s getting really frustrating for regular road users, not just for drivers of regular vehicles, but also pedestrians.

First we just have cyclists. Slowly, but quite surely, we are finding other forms of transportation gadgetry following suit. Should these users be on the roads? I know right now the law provides for cyclists using the roads, but let’s not even preclude the possibility that laws can be changed. The question, really, is to rethink where these users belong and how do we manage them.