UPDATE (7 Nov, 11am): On Saturday (5 Nov), the 42-year-old car driver Teo Kian Chin was charged with causing public nuisance. If found guilty, he faces a fine of up to S$2,000. He was remanded on 5 Nov and will return to court on 2 Dec.
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Tensions can build between motorists on the road, leading to road rage incidents.
On Sunday (6 Nov), ROADS.sg Facebook page shared a video of one such incident involving an SBS Transit bus captain and a Mercedes driver, reportedly triggered by honking.
The angered driver was seen approaching the bus captain, yelling at him, snatching his phone away, and hurling it onto the road.
SBS Transit has since lodged a police report against the Mercedes driver.
In the video, the Mercedes driver was seen yelling at the bus captain before getting back into the car and driving off.
Source: ROADS.sg on Facebook
The video then cuts to the driver walking back to the SBS Transit bus.
For a short while, the driver was trapped outside the bus. He was seen pressing buttons and gesturing to the bus captain to let him in.
Source: ROADS.sg on Facebook
The door opened just as the bus captain made a telephone call.
Upon getting on the bus, the driver immediately snatched the captain’s phone away.
Source: ROADS.sg on Facebook
With his arms akimbo, he could be seen accusatorily pointing and talking to the bus captain.
A woman, believed to be a passenger of the Mercedes driver, then walked up the bus.
The heated conversation continued, and the Mercedes driver’s voice could vaguely be heard on camera. He pointed at the road up ahead as if explaining the situation.
Source: ROADS.sg on Facebook
Shortly after, the driver huffily walked down the bus, followed closely by the woman.
At this point, the bus captain told the woman that the driver still had his phone.
The woman responded to him in Mandarin, “Your phone?”.
At this exact moment, the Mercedes driver, who was still seen holding the phone seconds ago, raised his right arm and hurled the phone onto the road.
Source: ROADS.sg on Facebook
The phone landed with a loud thud in the middle of the road, shocking the woman.
Unbothered, the Mercedes driver continued to walk away.
But he was later seen back at the bus stop with the woman, who was trying to pull him away. The bus was still at the same spot, and the bus captain was on the phone.
Source: ROADS.sg on Facebook
In Mandarin, the driver could be heard saying he didn’t care if people were filming him.
The pair then walked away back to the Mercedes parked by the road.
According to STOMP, the incident took place near midnight on 31 Oct at Flora Road, near Loyang Avenue.
SBS Transit bus service 4 had reportedly stopped at the bus stop at the time, and when it tried to exit the bus bay, the private car obstructed it.
The bus captain sounded the horn to alert the driver. Instead of moving off, the driver came out of his car to shout at the bus captain and hit the side of the bus.
He returned to his car as it was holding up other motorists along the single-lane road but stopped a short distance away.
The driver then returned to the bus, activating the emergency door button on its exterior and boarding it.
There, he shouted at the bus captain, forcefully grabbed the phone the bus captain was using and hurled it on the road later.
The lady then picked up the phone and returned it to the bus captain.
In response to queries, SBS Transit’s vice president (special grade) of Customer Experience and Communications Mrs Grace Wu said the bus captain communicated with their Operations Control Centre (OCC) for guidance and support throughout the incident.
The OCC also contacted the police for assistance.
Mrs Wu elaborated that they take the incident very seriously as the bus captain was only doing his job.
SBS Transit does not tolerate acts of harassment, intimidation, and verbal abuse against their bus captain. They have lodged a police report against the driver.
She emphasised that they will fully back any staff who wishes to defend their rights beyond the criminal justice system and file for civil action.
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Featured image adapted from ROADS.sg on Facebook.
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