Singapore – Local actor Tay Ping Hui took to Facebook to lament the lack of road safety exercised by some cyclists after a recent run-in with a group of cyclists.
In a Facebook post on Thursday (Apr 1), Mr Tay noted that despite the lights being green in his favour and his vehicle on the left and within the speed limit, a group of cyclists entering the junction “simply didn’t care.”
The attached dashboard camera footage showed that Mr Tay also flashed his headlights at the group to give them ample warning that he had the right of way. Eventually, he was forced to change to the centre lane as one or two from the group occupied the middle of the left-most lane.
Based on the footage timestamp, the incident happened on Mar 31 at about 9.35 pm.
Mr Tay said the group “didn’t give a damn and just rode out like it’s their ah gong’s road.”
“I had to jam on the brakes to avoid killing them, and the best part was, they looked at me like it’s my fault,” said Mr Tay. He added that he had experienced similar behaviour in the past.
“We all know about the clueless drivers out there who are totally oblivious to the perils of their poor driving habits,” he said.
“But when we see cyclists doing things like running red lights, going against traffic, behaving like bullies and even riding on the expressways, it’s become a blatant disregard for the traffic laws and regulations that are meant to keep us safer.”
Mr Tay highlighted that there remains a majority of cyclists who are responsible while on the road, but there’s always the “small group of bozos that ruin everything for everyone else.”
He added that the lack of measures to identify reckless cyclists promote such behaviour, unlike those who ride a car, motorcycle or any registered and insured vehicle.
So now we have cases of cyclists blatantly breaking the rules, damaging other vehicles, crashing into pedestrians, and simply riding away, said Mr Tay.
To address the issue, he suggested that perhaps it was time to register all bicycles in Singapore. “A small visible license plate would allow the cyclists to be identified in cases of accidents, conflict or rule-breaking.”
He mentioned that the registration should be free and insurance kept to a minimal amount.
Mr Tay noted that he, too, was a cyclist, in case others would complain that such a proposal would “infringe on cyclists’ freedom.”
“So whatever I am humbly suggesting here, I will also be subjected to,” he said.
“I just want our roads to be a safer place for us all. Regardless of how many wheels you might have.” /TISG
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