Singapore Police investigating confrontation between cyclists and taxi driver near Middle Road

SINGAPORE: A video displaying a confrontation between a group of cyclists and a ComfortDelGro taxi driver near Middle Road on Saturday (21 Oct) is currently under investigation by the police.

The incident, which took place at around 8:25 a.m., was captured and uploaded on the Facebook group SG Road Vigilante.

The footage consists of in-car camera segments, depicting the events leading up to the dispute, as well as the quarrel between the cyclists and the taxi driver.

Before the altercation with the taxi driver, snippets from other in-car camera recordings depicted the cyclists occupying the middle lane of a three-lane road, with a Hyundai car in front, supposedly before the “taxi incident.”

When the cyclists and the car stopped at a traffic light, one of the cyclists could be observed gesturing at the car.

The video caption mentioned that the cyclist “confronted” the car driver because of a “honking” incident.

Cyclists engage in roadway dispute with taxi driver

The in-car camera footage reveals the group of approximately five cyclists biking in the leftmost and middle lane of the three-lane road, trailing a taxi.

The taxi came to a stop, leaving about a car’s length of space between itself and the car in front, which had also halted for a red light.

A cyclist behind the taxi seemed to have either hit or almost hit the taxi’s rear, causing the cyclist to stumble.

Following this, the group of cyclists encircled the taxi, leading to a verbal altercation.

One of the cyclists appeared to have recorded the incident. The video starts with a visibly agitated man, presumably the taxi driver, exclaiming, “Buay song lai loh” (not happy come lah), along with a string of profanities.

A cyclist responds with the same profanities, while another cyclist behind the camera repeatedly questions the taxi driver, “Why you jam brake?”

The taxi driver responded, “You (cut) into my lane. Why can’t I jam brake?!”

The cyclist filming then inquired, “Why did you cut into his lane?” before reiterating the question about the abrupt braking.

The cyclist argued, “You see you jam brake, the car in front so far away. You jam brake here, you know,” as he directed the camera to demonstrate the considerable gap between the taxi and the car ahead.

“You trying to injure alot of drivers, riders, you know?” the cyclist told the driver, in response, the taxi driver unleashed a rapid barrage of Hokkien vulgarities.

Claiming that the cyclist had “struck his side mirror,” the taxi driver retrieved his phone from the driver’s seat, strode towards the front and to the left side of his vehicle.

A cyclist, who had positioned himself near the vehicle’s front, tumbled to the ground along with his bicycle. Meanwhile, the taxi driver was observed recording his left-side mirror.

Seated on the ground, the cyclist asked a fellow rider, “You have it on camera, ah?” Several cyclists confirmed that they had the incident captured on camera.

The taxi driver’s voice could be heard saying, “Never mind, never mind. I got money. Taxi drivers don’t have money, ah?”

The police investigating the road dispute

As reported by the Singapore state media, The Straits Times, the police were notified of a request for help at the junction of Victoria Street and Middle Road around 8:30 a.m.

According to the authorities, a 41-year-old man suffered minor injuries but refused to be transported to the hospital.

Investigations into the incident are currently underway.