The relationship between motorists and cyclists in Singapore hasn’t been the best. Over the past few months alone, we’ve seen numerous instances when members from both groups got into heated disputes.
On Sunday (9 Jan), another such incident happened along the roads of Outram — a group of cyclists surrounded a driver after allegedly getting honked at by the latter.
A video on Facebook page Beh Chia Lor showing the incident has since gone viral, with netizens condemning the cyclists’ behaviour.
At the start of the video, the dashcam vehicle was seen exiting Smith Road and turning into New Bridge Road in Chinatown.
As the car was about to turn, a group of 11 cyclists rode past the junction, obstructing the driver’s way.
Though the car eventually made the turn seconds later, the same group of cyclists came to a stop near a coffeeshop at the next intersection, blocking part of the road which led to Keong Saik Road.
Intending to turn into Keong Saik Road, it was likely at this moment that the driver honked at the group.
The cyclist riding at the back of the group turned in response and glanced intently towards the vehicle.
After turning, the driver drove along Keong Saik Road and reached Outram seconds later.
But around the 1-minute-25-seconds mark of the video, the car gradually came to a stop near Keong Saik Bakery. It is believed that the man behind the wheel works as a private hire driver and had stopped to pick up a passenger.
Moments later, the same group of cyclists overtook the car and pulled up in the middle of the road.
After disembarking from their bikes, the cyclists gestured aggressively towards the driver, as if they were issuing a challenge.
One of them even tapped on the car’s bonnet several times.
Towards the end of the video, a picture, presumably showing the aftermath of the confrontation, shows a large handprint on one of the rear windows.
The video has since gone viral with over 1,000 shares at the time of writing.
Many netizens also called out the riders’ thug-like behaviour and said they were giving cyclists in Singapore a bad name.
Another Facebook user expressed confusion over the cyclists’ abrupt stop near the Keong Saik Road junction.
This netizen, however, pointed out that certain information about the incident remains unclear, given the absence of audio in the clip.
While disagreements and disputes are at times inevitable between road users, there’s certainly no need for hostile confrontations and thuggish gestures.
We hope road users will be less obsessed with assigning blame and will instead work towards being more gracious and courteous members of society.
After all, that’s the only way we can all co-exist and make our roads a safer place.
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Featured image adapted from Beh Chia Lor – Singapore on Facebook.
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