The fires of the feud between drivers and cyclists continue to burn bright in Singapore.
This week, we saw a driver and cyclist quarrel so loudly that the mandopop song playing in the driver’s car was drowned out.
Guys, relax lah.
Driver Gets Out of Car to Quarrel with Cyclist Riding E-Bike Without Helmet
On Friday (15 September), a video surfaced on the Facebook group “SG Road Vigilante – SGRV” that caught the eye of many Singaporeans.
The dashcam footage shows a dispute between a driver and a cyclist on Bidadari Park Drive in the Woodleigh area.
The 62-second clip shows a cyclist on an e-bike cycling merely inches in front of a car. The cyclist is also observed to be swerving to the centre and the side of the road.
At this point, you’ll realise that the cyclist bo helmet leh.
The driver in the car, enjoying a mandopop song by famous singer A-Lin, decided to add some extra spice to the music by honking.
We’re kidding—he was honking at the cyclist, presumably because the cyclist was in his way. Clearly, the driver wasn’t having it with the “Tour de Singapura”.
However, the cyclist wasn’t very pleased that the driver honked at him—he stopped by the side of the car, knocked the car windshield a few times, and signalled for the driver to get out of the vehicle.
The driver, probably as angry as your tiger mom would be if you left the dishes unwashed in the sink, accepted the cyclist’s “challenge” and exited the car.
The pair then started quarrelling passionately outside the car about road safety, pointing fingers here and there.
And perhaps about whose grandfather owns Bidadari Park Drive.
The altercation was so loud that even A-Lin’s grand vocals playing on the car were drowned out. While this argument might have taken place in the East, residents in Jurong probably heard it as well.
What a feat.
Unfortunately, this is far from the first cyclist-driver dispute we’ve seen in the past month.
Last Sunday (10 September), we saw an intense argument unfold between a cyclist and a driver at Sungei Tengah Road. The driver had honked at the cyclist, who responded by banging his fist on the car bonnet.
A large dent was left on the car bonnet. Yikes.
You can read more about how this confrontation unfolded here.
Even earlier this year, in June, a cyclist was spotted jumping onto the hood of a car at East Coast Road.
Macam filming Jackie Chan movie Sia.
The point is there seem to be quite several disputes arising between cyclists and drivers. The question is: why?
Goody Feed’s answer is this: it doesn’t seem to be a mere problem of Singaporeans forgetting about the spirit of graciousness. The heart of the problem appears to lie in Singapore’s cycling infrastructure.
You see, cyclists can’t cycle on pedestrian walkways; if they do, they have to cycle really slowly. So slowly that if your food delivery riders cycled at that speed, your breakfast order would become dinner.
So, pedestrian walkways are out. Yet, when cyclists venture onto roads, drivers aren’t pleased since cyclists are naturally significantly slower than drivers.
Of course, there is the occasional cyclist who outright fails to observe road safety rules when they’re cycling on the road. However, quite a number of cyclist-vs-car sagas don’t seem to fall within this category.
That leaves us with the cycling routes around the island. Let’s be honest—if cyclists took this route, your GrabFood breakfast order would probably only arrive after three days.
You can watch this video to find out more about this problem:
We’ll have to wait and see how this problem is eventually solved.