Singaporeans who take taxis frequently might have experienced surly drivers before.
However, one taxi driver might be the most hot-tempered in Singapore, having taken part in multiple altercations with passengers and other motorists.
One incident reportedly saw him call a female passenger a “bitch”.
He was eventually jailed after facing 25 charges, including speeding and dangerous driving.
The cabby in question is 47-year-old Chen Zefa (transliterated from Mandarin), who appeared in court on Friday (22 Sep).
He faced a total of 25 charges, though the prosecution chose to proceed with 10 of them while the rest were taken into consideration, reported Shin Min Daily News,
The 10 charges included insulting the modesty of a woman, speeding and dangerous driving.
According to court documents, one of the incidents Chen was involved in took place on 8 Oct 2017.
At about 8pm, he encountered a couple of would-be passengers at Changi Airport.
They wanted to get into his cab, but he was unwilling to take them for some reason.
They then got into an argument, during which Chen called the female passenger “bitch” a total of three times.
He also made a rude gesture at her.
The court also heard that on 31 Jan 2018, Chen got into another fracas with his passengers.
At about 5.50pm, he picked up another couple at the airport. This couple had their 15-month-old baby with them.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
While in the vehicle, the couple became dissatisfied with how Chen was driving, and they got into an argument.
The cabby slammed on the brakes repeatedly during the trip, causing the baby’s head to hit the back of the front seat.
After the couple got off in Sengkang, the altercation didn’t stop.
Still displeased with Chen, they took photos of his licence plate number.
This prompted the cabby to reverse his cab and then step on the accelerator to charge towards the couple.
They called the police after the incident.
In a third incident, Chen was driving in Tampines on 1 Jan 2019.
At about noon, he got into a feud with a 32-year-old motorcyclist. During the squabble, Chen overtook his motorcycle and slammed on his brakes in front of him.
This caused the motorcyclist to collide with the back of his vehicle as he couldn’t avoid it in time.
As a result of the crash, the motorcyclist fell off his bike and sustained multiple bruises and pain in his waist.
His movement was affected, and he had to be sent to hospital and given three days’ medical leave.
Unfortunately, it seems that Chen even dared to evade the police.
On 3 Dec 2022, he was driving on Airport Road at 9.30pm when a Traffic Police officer on a motorbike found that he was going a bit too fast.
Source: Singapore Police Force. Photo for illustration purposes only.
Thus, the officer approached his cab on the left and signalled for him to stop.
However, Chen ignored the officer, driving to MacPherson and beating red lights on the way.
He ended up crashing into a car and bus, causing damage to both.
A female passenger in the car also suffered injuries.
Besides the above incidents, Chen was also caught five times for speeding and three times for beating the red light in a period of 11 years.
Between 2008 and 2019, he committed a total of 11 traffic offences and was fined between S$130 and S$500 for each offence, the prosecution said.
He had beat the red light in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Thus, the prosecutor described him as having no regard for the law and the safety of other road users.
Chen was jailed for one year and eight weeks for his series of offences. He was also fined S$3,000.
Better still, his licence was revoked for all classes of vehicles for seven years.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.
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