New size limits for active mobility devices from 1 Mar 2024

From 1 March 2024, active mobility devices allowed on Singapore roads must comply with a new set of rules pertaining to size limits. Under these measures, active mobility devices will have to be limited to a maximum of 130cm in width and 260cm in length.

Devices that are currently allowed on our paths are limited to a maximum of 70cm in width and 20kg in unladen weight. 

These existing limits - along with the new rules - will apply to bicycles, non-motorised cargo bicycles or tricycles, rider-only tricycles and recumbent bicycles. Recumbents are devices on which riders pedal in a reclined position.

The devices will also be required to have at least one working handbrake. Recumbent bicycles must additionally have at least one working brake that can be operated by hand or foot.

By ensuring sufficient space between path users for overtaking, for instance, the new regulations help to make it safer for all users

The new rules were put forth by the Active Mobility Advisory Panel in February 2023 and accepted by the authorities in March 2023. The objective was to curb an increase in excessively wide or long mobility devices that are slower-moving, less manoeuvrable and harder to overtake. These can be obstructive to other road users. 

The new rules will ensure sufficient space between path users for safe passing or overtaking. This, in turn, will also help to reduce the risk of serious injury if a collision happens. 

Regulations stipulated by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) ban the motorisation of cargo bicycles or tricycles, rider-only tricycles and recumbent bicycles. Even as the new set of rules kick in, this regulation will continue to apply. 

The authority says that such motorised devices will not be allowed on public paths and roads until internationally recognised certification standards for such devices are made available. 

In explaining - through a Facebook post - that the new regulations are aimed at enhancing the safe use of paths, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport, Mr. Baey Yam Keng, encouraged users of active mobility devices to insure themselves for third-party liability. This is so that they, too, are able to protect themselves in the event of a collision.