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SINGAPORE – The death of a 13-year-old girl who fell from a height after crashing into a railing while riding a fixed gear bicycle has been deemed a misfortune.
Delivering her findings on Friday (October 23), State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam also said there is an ongoing review of the use of such bicycles, which some have said are not suitable for young people as they require strength and ability to maneuver.
Fixed gear bikes generally do not have manually operated brakes and rely on the resistance of the rider’s pedal to stop.
The review report is expected to be available later this year.
The girl’s death is a “warning” that has raised concerns about the use of fixed gear bicycles, also known as fixies, the coroner said.
The girl had been riding the fixed gear bicycle, which had no brakes, with her schoolmates in a multi-story parking lot in Pasir Ris on January 8 when the incident occurred.
The 13-year-old had learned to ride a conventional bike only about a year ago and had wanted to try the fixed gear bike.
Her friends lowered the seat of one of them, but the 1.53m tall girl was still “too short” for the bike, whose seat height was 1.03m after adjustment, the coroner said.
A friend originally accompanied her on foot when the girl started riding, and the girl said she was not sure whether to do so, as it had been some time since she had last ridden her bike.
However, the friend was unable to keep up as the girl began to cycle down a ramp from the seventh floor to the sixth floor. The friend yelled at the girl to turn right, but the girl continued to advance directly toward the metal railing and collided with her, the coroner said.
As a result of the impact, the girl was thrown on the building, the court heard. The fixed gear bike was stopped by the railing and fell to the ground.
A resident found her downstairs, bleeding from her mouth and panting, the coroner said. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Following this incident, the Land Transportation Authority (LTA) said it will study the issue of fixed gear bicycles, which it had previously treated as normal bicycles with no restrictions on their use, the coroner said.
The coroner noted that LTA’s view was that bicycles “are not inherently unsafe.”
However, the coroner also said that Zulkifli Awab, an avid cyclist and founder of a popular HolyCrit cycling group, has stated that fixed gear bikes are not for the young, inexperienced or unsuitable.
Riders on these bikes must be proficient in handling the bike and must have “enough leg strength” to use the reverse method to stop the bike, Zulkifli said, the coroner said.
He had recommended that bicycles should not be used by those under the age of 16, as their muscles are generally not enough to generate enough power.
The coroner said there should be public education efforts to highlight the dangers of riding bicycles. This was one of the recommendations that emerged from the investigation into the girl’s death.
Passengers should also be required to wear helmets at all times, although this may have had little or no use in this case, he said.
He expressed his condolences to the girl’s family.
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