'Why I cannot jam brake?' Cyclists and cabby clash near Bugis MRT station

SINGAPORE – Police are investigating a video showing a confrontation between a group of cyclists and a ComfortDelGro taxi driver near Middle Road on Saturday.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the police said they were alerted to a call for assistance at the junction of Victoria Street and Middle Road at about 8.30am.

Footage of the heated argument was posted by SG Road Vigilante on Facebook. The post has been viewed 110,000 times, with 880 likes and 1,700 comments by Sunday afternoon.

In the video, five cyclists can be seen riding in the left and centre lanes of the three-lane road behind the taxi.

The taxi stops abruptly at a traffic light, a car length away from the vehicle in front of it. The move caused one of the cyclists to hit or almost hit the rear of the taxi.

After watching the cyclist stumble, the group of cyclists then tailgate the taxi and surround it.

In another video filmed by one of the cyclists, which was uploaded on Facebook, a man in a black shirt, who appears to be the taxi driver, and the cyclists can be heard hurling vulgarities at one another.

One cyclist is heard asking the taxi driver why he stopped the vehicle suddenly.

“You (cut) into my lane. Why I cannot jam brake?... You don’t need to ask me why I jam brake,” the taxi driver replies.

In response, the cyclist says: “You see you jam brake (but) the car in front (of your taxi) is so far away.” He points the camera to a gap between the taxi and the car in front of it.

The driver is heard uttering vulgarities before walking to the front of his vehicle.

A cyclist, who had stopped close to the front of the vehicle, then falls to the ground, together with his bicycle.

It is not clear what actually caused him to fall.

The police said a 41-year-old man sustained minor injuries but declined to be taken to hospital, and that investigations are ongoing.

ST has contacted ComfortDelGro for comment.

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