Housing Development Board (HDB) has debunked a taxi driver’s claims that he was issued a summon for stopping his car on a service road for “less than 2 min” while he was only helping a wheelchair-bound passenger get to the elevator.
Facebook user Max Tan, the taxi driver, wrote on Facebook recently, “Alighting a old wheelchair old lady. Engine on. Helping to push her up the slope to lift lobby…time taken less than 2 min.” He continued, “Got this summon. I approached this idiot and ask why?? Can’t u see I helping this wheel chair lady??? He said Law stated No parking at all times even with engine on…..I say thank you..”
Tan ended his post by striking a sarcastic tone. He wrote, “From now on…this summon will remind me what Singapore is becoming…I eeish one day his mother is my customer with wheel chair…Do Blame me for throwing her on the road side…”
In his post, Tan included a map showing where the parking offence occurred. He also shared a shot of the summon which shows that the incident occurred on 24 May at 12.25pm, near 196a Punggol Field rOAD. Tan was fined $100 for flouting Rule 3 (a) of the Housing & Development (Common Property and Open Spaces) Rules.
Standing by the traffic summon, HDB has revealed that Tan alighted his passenger at the service road, in front of the central rubbish chute, while the two nearby loading bays were empty and available for him to have stopped his car to help a customer. The board added that these bays have ramps that could have better facilitated movement for the alleged wheelchair-bound passenger.
Besides this, HDB debunked Tan’s claims that he left his engine on and that he was gone for “less than 2 min”. The authority revealed that Tan had parked his vehicle at the service road for 10 minutes with the engine turned off and noted that the service road is meant to be kept clear at all times for the use of emergency vehicles.
Tan has since removed his post from Facebook.