Caught On Campus: NTU Riders Are No Daredevils

By Nicole Lim

Risk-taking daredevils, dangerous machines: these are just some of the usual descriptions commonly associated with motorcyclists and their bikes.

But this is also the perception that the NTU Riders Club (NRC) wants to change by raising awareness of safety practices and equipments for the motorcycling community through events such as the NTU Bikefest held on 8 Feb.

Against the background of a roaring Harley-Davidson motor in Canopy K outside LT1A, the Club’s president Liew Teik Yong, a second year Business student, said: “We’re here to promote safe motorcycling to both motorcyclists as well as automobilists.”

He explained that being adequately geared and alert on the road is the least that any responsible motorcyclist can do.

For Lim Jun Jie, a Year 2 student of the School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, who is also member of the NRC, this means “dressing for the fall, and not for the ride” by putting on full face helmet, jacket, and gloves. A minor accident he got into last year turned him into a firm believer in adequate safety gear.

During the Bikefest, various safety equipments were on sale for NTU’s motorcycling community. But the display that drew the most attention was the row of NRC members’ motorcycles at the centre of the exhibition area. They range from Japanese brands such as Honda and Suzuki, to European brands such as Ducati.

NRC members shared how getting a bike was cheaper and helped them save time, as compared to getting a car or taking public transport. They said it is also easier to find parking areas.

But practical benefits aside, these motorcyclists simply love the “thrill of the ride”. The Club often rides in a convoy to Malaysia while stopping along the way to enjoy the food.

Even though the Bikefest mainly catered to motorcylists, it also reached out to drivers. The Bukit Batok Driving Centre brought in a drunk-driving simulator and an air bag simulator to demonstrate the danger of reckless driving.

According to Teik Yong, this outreach to drivers serves an important practical purpose too for the motorcylists. He said: “Many car drivers out there don’t take the rule of looking twice when changing lanes to watch out for us motorcyclists as seriously as they could.”

“We’d like them to understand that if they can give the road a second look, they could actually be giving us a second chance.”