Safety for Active Mobility Users

For years, road safety campaigns have relied on a comfortable, symmetrical logic. We are told that "Safety is everyone's responsibility" and that "It takes two hands to clap." These phrases suggest a partnership of equals, where a motorist and a elderly pedestrian share the same burden of preventing a tragedy. At SAMU, we believe it is time to challenge this narrative. While the sentiment of mutual respect is valuable, the physics of the road tell a different story. When we treat a two-ton vehicle and a fifteen-kilogram bicycle as equal stakeholders in safety, we ignore the reality of risk and the fundamental "Duty of Care" that comes with operating a powerful machine. The Two Dimensions of Responsibility To have a honest conversation about safety, we must separate responsibility into two distinct categories: 1. For me: The Responsibility for Self-Preservation This applies to every person on the road. Whether you are walking, cycling, or driving, you ...

When we talk about road safety, the conversation usually centers on behavior. We speak about "better drivers," "paying attention," and "following the rules." While individual responsibility is important, this approach overlooks a fundamental truth of human nature: people make mistakes. In most areas of our lives—whether it is the design of a workplace, a kitchen appliance, or a hospital—we expect the system to have built-in safeguards. If a person slips or forgets a step, we want the environment to prevent that minor error from turning into a tragedy. For decades, however, our roads have been the exception. We have built high-speed environments and then expected humans to navigate them with absolute perfection. This is where the concept of Systematic Safety, often called Sustainable Safety, comes in. It represents a fundamental shift in how we think about our streets and highways. Moving Beyond Blame The core idea of systematic safety is simple: the road s...

Welcome to the Safety for Active Mobility Users (SAMU) Blog We are a registered society in Singapore with one clear mission: to champion the safety of everyone who walks, cycles, or rides on our public paths and roads. Whether you commute daily by bicycle, take a morning walk to the market, or depend on a personal mobility device for work, you likely share our concerns. Our paths are crowded, our roads often feel unsafe, and our regulations seem to shift faster than we can keep up. The “Whack-a-Mole” Cycle In 2019, Singapore banned e-scooters from footpaths after attempts at “gracious sharing” fell short. Now, in 2025, similar restrictions are being introduced for mobility scooters (PMAs), including new medical certification requirements and a speed limit of 6 km/h. While SAMU supports meaningful safety measures, this recurring “whack-a-mole” approach addresses symptoms rather than root causes. The core issue lies in a system that places users with vastly different speeds and masses - ...