Confessions of a Scooterholic Part 2
Continuing our blog series to promote safe and responsible riding of electric scooters, we feature Arief, a regular electric scooter commuter and his account of 2 harrowing death-defying experiences with his scooter.
With my very first pay cheque, I bought an Inokim quick 2 as an advance birthday present for myself. This was in 2015.
I was thrilled with the new experience of riding back and forth from work.
After few weeks of riding, my first freak accident happened near Lentor on my way home one evening. It was not very clear how it happened. What I recalled was that my front wheel struck a particularly high curb in a dark stretch of pathway, causing me to fly forward. I broke my fall with my arm causing it to fracture.
I was not wearing a helmet then only a cap. After recovering from my injuries, I didn’t dare to ride above 20km/h for a few weeks.
When the Inokim light launched later that year, I jumped at the chance to buy it too. Till today, I love it very much . It’s been my constant companion and it takes me on small hidden roads I never knew existed.
It allows me time to think. With an attentive mind, I noticed many things that I hadn’t during my typical bus or mrt rides home. There was an occasion where I discovered a quiet and picturesque street I never knew existed, which was used by the migrant workers to do their grocery runs after work.
Then, there was that moment where I smelled the forest dew – just a whiff to rekindle memories of my Army days training in the jungles of Singapore. As luck would have it, I got into another freak accident. Something sharp went through my front wheel while riding 30km/h on same pavement everyday to work and I flew like a rag doll through the air. This time I flew forward head first because of the speed I was going at.
Learning from past accidents, I wore a helmet this time so the head was well protected from the impact but my face was bruised pretty badly and my left finger broke. With a little embarrassment, I quickly pulled my scooter to the grass patch and called for assistance to bring my scooter back to office and checked myself into A&E.
Past accidents have made me a better and more experienced rider. My broken arm and finger have healed and I have put those 2 accidents behind me. Moving beyond that, I have formed a group called Singapore Inokim Riders (SIR) and organized rides to Pulau Ubin , Bukit Timah mountain bike trail, Coney Island and Batam, places where you wouldn’t imagine using electric scooters. Check out my group rides!
I’m proud to say that I am now a battle-hardened experienced electric scooter rider who understands the importance of safe riding. Trust me, my head is where it is today because of I practised it.