Watch: Cabby terrorises driver in KPE cat-and-mouse game
An SMRT taxi driver terrorised another motorist on the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) on Sunday, tailgating, swerving in and out of lanes, and hurling vulgarities and objects, including a can of drink, at the other car.
The road bully's dangerous antics were caught by the in-car cameras on the front and rear of his victim's car.
The victim, using the moniker Bee Pok, posted 23 video clips of the incident on YouTube. Each clip lasts about a minute.
Twelve clips were taken by the front camera and the rest by the rear camera.
The New Paper tried to contact Bee Pok through his YouTube channel yesterday, but he had not replied by press time.
But he gave a vivid description in the caption for the video clips of his harrowing encounter, which began at around 5.40pm and lasted about 10 minutes.
The first clips from both the front and rear perspectives show Bee Pok's car on the first lane overtaking the taxi, a Ssangyong Rodius, in the middle lane as they approached the KPE.
The taxi then switched lanes and speeded up behind Bee Pok's car.
There is no indication from the clips of any obvious incident between them that might have triggered the cabby's dangerous behaviour.
He tried to cut back into the middle lane to overtake Bee Pok, but failed.
Just before Bee Pok entered the KPE, the cabby speeded up and cut into the middle lane and went perilously close to hitting a motorcyclist before swerving back behind Bee Pok.
"I was shocked and I feared... for the motorbike and myself. Luckily for the motorbike, it was a near miss," Bee Pok wrote.
When Bee Pok switched to the middle lane to let the taxi pass, it speeded up and moved out of range of the cameras.
The cabby then slowed down, returned to the middle lane and tailgated Bee Pok again in a cat-and-mouse game.
Bee Pok wrote: "Then he cut into the first lane dangerously and travelled at the same pace alongside me, and flipped me the third finger.
"At 17:42:01pm (5.42pm), he tried to cause a side collision by squeezing in between the car in front of me, swerving in and out...
"He then purposely slowed down on the first lane and cut to the second lane, coming to a halt at 17:42:47pm, causing a black Toyota to stop behind him, taunting me to overtake him."
Bee Pok refused to take his bait and the cabby later swerved into his lane, almost hitting his car and causing Bee Pok to swerve to avoid him.
His action almost led to a silver car hitting the rear of his car.
"He then took out a can and threw it at my car... I sped up to avoid him and any confrontation as I feared for my safety, but he sped up and continued to follow me."
TRIED TO GET AWAY
Bee Pok tried to speed away from the taxi, but it kept pace with his car.
At one point, the cabby wound down his window while driving beside Bee Pok.
"I wound down my window to ask him why he was driving in this manner. He retorted with threatening words and vulgarities, and asked me to get out of the car to fight him," Bee Pok wrote.
"I could see from his red face that he looked intoxicated and drunk."
Bee Pok then called the police for help even as loud thuds are heard from the objects that are thrown at his car.
In one of the clips, Bee Pok can be heard telling a police officer over the phone: "He's a crazy person. He's throwing things at me for no reason."
The cabby continued to drive alongside Bee Pok's car, blaring his horn continuously while swerving left and right.
He resumed throwing objects at Bee Pok's car, then drove towards the exit to East Coast Parkway before swerving back dangerously to the KPE and almost hitting the divider.
Bee Pok, who said that he made three calls to the police, wrote: "He kept signalling me to stop the car. I feared for my safety."
He ignored the cabby and the ordeal finally ends when the driver took the Marina Bay exit on the Marina Coastal Expressway.
A police spokesman confirmed yesterday that they received a call at around 5.55pm.
Investigations are ongoing into the case, which has been classified as a rash act.
Bee Pok wrote: "I am totally disgusted with his actions, dangerous driving and road bullying.
"He also violated traffic rules and regulations. His road and driving manners and ethics should be dealt with severely."
Motorists approached by The New Paper felt the cabby's actions were inconsiderate.
IT executive Jeffrey Wong, 35, said: "A serious accident might have happened if the cars behind had swerved to avoid the items that the cab driver was throwing."
Retail assistant Stacey Chew, 24, said: "It's a very selfish act that endangered the lives of other motorists on the road."
Mr Patrick Nathan, the vice-president of corporate information and communications at SMRT, said investigations showed the taxi was driven by a relief driver who had no prior accident record.
SMRT terminated his contract yesterday, he said.
"The incident is regrettable. SMRT takes a serious view on any incident that may compromise the safety of our passengers as well as fellow road users," Mr Nathan said.
He asked me to get out of the car to fight him.
- Bee Pok
Don't engage road bullies
Motorists who encounter road bullies should remain calm and maintain their own safe driving habits, said Mr Bernard Tay, chairman of the Singapore Road Safety Council.
He said that motorists should not engage an aggressive driver by responding in a similar manner.
Motorists should also note the registration plate number of the road bully and file a police report so that action can be taken, he said.
"Motorists have to be responsible for their actions and be considerate towards other road users," Mr Tay said.
"Obeying limits and traffic regulations, in addition to vigilance and patience, plays an important role in ensuring a good driving experience for all."
Criminal lawyer Josephus Tan said the incident might not be considered a case of road rage if the victim, Bee Pok, was not physically injured by the taxi driver's actions.
He said: "Road rage cases are usually classified as voluntarily causing hurt.
"But this incident can be a case of criminal intimidation, depending on the gestures or words uttered by the taxi driver."
OTHER ROAD RAGE CASES
DECEMBER 2014
A driver blocked an ambulance on the right lane of the Pan Island Expressway for five minutes.
The ambulance was rushing a woman in critical condition to hospital.
The driver of the Hyundai Matrix refused to give way despite the ambulance's sirens, and even braked suddenly at one point, forcing those in the ambulance to be thrown forward.
JULY 2014
An angry driver blocked the way of a public bus for at least 15 minutes at Toa Payoh Lorong 4 and prevented the bus driver from making a right turn.
Unhappy that the bus had overtaken his car, he overtook the bus, cut into its lane and got out to harangue the bus driver.
JANUARY 2014
A 25-year-old student drove recklessly and almost caused a collision by swerving and cutting into the path of a female motorist abruptly without signalling at Petir Road and Dairy Farm Road.
At one point, he got out of his vehicle and approached the woman in a threatening manner.
In May, he was disqualified from driving for two years and fined $5,400 for his rash act which endangered life.
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