RIDING safe was the message being shared by students from Admiralty Secondary School yesterday, at an event to encourage cyclists to adopt better road habits.

The effort was initiated by Sembawang Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC), based on residents' feedback that many cyclists in the Woodlands area often pose a danger to pedestrians.

The three-day drive has student-ambassadors stationed at the junction of Woodlands Avenue 7 and Gambas Avenue, and nearby footpaths stopping passing cyclists and telling them to dismount and push their bikes across instead.

Already the students are seeing their efforts make some difference.

Said 14-year-old Ng Jun Wei, one of the 20 ambassadors: 'Most of them stopped and listened to us, and followed what we said when I explained to them individually. Some were surprised to find out they were not supposed to ride across pedestrian crossings.'

Mr Goh Peng Hong, vice-chairman of Sembawang CCC, said that the area is a hot spot for cyclists and that human traffic there is also high.

'One pregnant lady was very anxious because she was almost hit by a cyclist at the pedestrian crossing,' he said.

A cyclist who rides on any public way in a rash or negligent manner so as to endanger human life can be punished with a jail term of up to one year, or a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

JALELAH ABU BAKER

This article was first published in The Straits Times.