Process and Cost of Mediation for Accidents Involving Personal Mobility Devices

18 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport (a) how many users of personal mobility devices (PMDs) and their accident victims have gone for mediation in the past 24 months; (b) what compensation has been paid out in the mediation; (c) what is the cost of mediation that each party must bear; (d) how long is the whole process of mediation; and (e) what is the process should one party refuses to attend.

The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Dr Lam Pin Min) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, personal mobility device (PMD) users and their accident victims can undertake mediation at the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) or the Law Society of Singapore.

Mediation is voluntary and can only proceed with both parties in attendance. The SMC facilitates this by contacting the relevant parties and explaining the benefits of mediation. To date, the SMC and Law Society have not received any mediation cases involving PMD users and their accident victims. The Law Society’s charges start from $350 per party. SMC’s charges start from $107 per party, and varies according to the type of mediation and the dispute amount. SMC also provides subsidised rates to applicants with financial difficulties on a case-by-case basis.

The duration of mediation depends on the complexity of the issues and the parties’ willingness to resolve the dispute. The negotiation process is confidential and parties generally do not disclose the compensation amount. If mediation fails, either because one party refuses to attend or the parties are unable to come to a resolution, the claimant can choose to file a civil suit in the State Courts.

The Active Mobility Advisory Panel and LTA strongly encourage all active mobility device users to purchase third-party liability insurance, to protect themselves against third-party claims in the event of an accident.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Sir, I have four supplementary questions. The Senior Minister of State mentioned earlier that if one party refuses to attend mediation, then the next recourse is to file a civil suit. A lot of people think that, firstly, it costs money and it is very troublesome. Is there anything that the Ministry can do to make it easier? If one party refuses to turn up, very likely that party is at fault.

Secondly, I would like to ask how many shared e-scooter operators have applied for e-scooter sharing licences. I think the application closed yesterday. How many had applied?

Thirdly, how do we ensure that all these shared e-scooters do not pose a danger to pedestrians and cause disamenities and chaos like what shared bicycles have done previously? E-scooters travel at a much faster speed. I think a lot of residents have already given the feedback why is it that we are opening up to these shared e-scooter operators. We need to look into this.

Lastly, it is about insurance. The Senior Minister of State mentioned earlier that it is not compulsory, if I heard him correctly. Can we make it compulsory so that when it comes to claims, the injured person can claim against the insurance of the other party?

Dr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Er Dr Lee Bee Wah for the four supplementary questions. With regard to the first question on civil suit, like I have mentioned, if the two parties can agree on some form of mediation, that would be one of the best outcomes, failing which the claimant can also consider a civil suit against the offender in the State Courts. In a situation where the claimant is unable to afford the legal fees, the claimant can also approach the Legal Aid Bureau which offers help to those who have difficulty procuring legal representation on their own. Of course, that would require some form of means-testing. In addition to that, the claimant can also approach the Law Society of Singapore which can provide ad-hoc pro-bono services, with free legal representation on a referred basis. If the claimant wants to have some form of legal advice, they can also approach the community legal clinics at the Law Society as they do offer basic legal advice and give advice on the possible next course of action.

With regard to e-scooter sharing licences, so far, we have received quite good responses. I do not have the exact numbers of licences that would be issued. But once that information is available, I will be able to share with the Member.

As to the third supplementary question on e-scooter safety, I think we have the benefit of learning from our bike-sharing experiences. With the implementation of the Active Mobility Act and the implementation of safety requirements on PMD users, we will be able to ensure that the use of e-scooters will be done in a safe manner.

With regard to third-party insurance, right now, it is not compulsory because the Active Mobility Advisory Panel did not recommend mandating this, given the diversity in device users, so as not to significantly reduce the uptake of active mobility. For example, it can be quite onerous on occasional active mobility users as well as families and young children to purchase mandatory third-party insurance.

Instead, the Advisory Panel suggested placing greater focus on upstream prevention of accidents such as lowering the speed limits on footpaths and, at the same time, encouraging users to stop and look out for oncoming traffic at road crossings. So, these are some of the measures that the Active Mobility Advisory Panel has suggested.

However, having said that, the Panel strongly encourages the take-up of third-party liability insurance, in particular, by food delivery companies for the employees. More recently, LTA also announced that motorised PMD-sharing licensees will be required to procure and maintain third-party liability insurance.

So, while it is not mandatory for PMD users to purchase third-party insurance, we do strongly encourage all active mobility device users to purchase third-party liability insurance to protect themselves against third-party claims in an event of an accident.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: For the pro bono legal advice provided by the Law Society, is it means-tested, that means, is that anybody who can go and ask? Because it is not easy to get help from Legal Aid. If you earn more $1,500, you cannot get help from Legal Aid already. So, I think if everybody were to go along that direction, I think it is quite onerous, quite tough. So, perhaps if there is increasing complaints, increasing incidents, perhaps the Ministry should look into how best to address this. If the appropriate party did not turn up, that means that the other party is at fault.

Dr Lam Pin Min: I would like to thank Er Dr Lee Bee Wah for the additional supplementary question. Just to give a summary of how victims in PMD accidents can proceed to seek compensation, like I mentioned before, it could be in a form of either a private settlement or through mediation. Secondly, of course, it can be achieved through civil action for which some of the limitations have been highlighted by the Member.

And thirdly, through criminal prosecution. If the victim was involved in an accident and suffered significant injuries, he is encouraged to quickly file a Police report as that would allow the Police to launch an investigation to determine if an offence has been committed. And should the AGC assess that an offence had been committed, then the Court will consider whether to order the offender to compensate the victim. So, this is actually another avenue where victims can seek compensation.