You might have heard about the accident that occured on Dec. 23, in Pasir Ris, between a cyclist and a lorry.

For better or worse, the incident has now gone global.

Within the same day of the accident, a thread appeared on the the Reddit Whatcouldgowrong forum with around 3,800 comments thus far discussing it.

Lorry driver criticised

Many of the comments, while agreeing that the cyclist's behaviour was uncalled for, slammed the lorry for a disproportionate response to the cyclist's behaviour.

Some comments also blamed the lorry for starting the situation in the first place, accusing the driver of tailgating the cyclist.

Why the difference in reactions?

A large part of the reactions might have to do with the acceptance of cycling culture in the West.

According to a 2015 report by WIRED, 20 of the world's most bike-friendly cities, with the exception of Tokyo, were found in either Europe or the Americas.

As such, the threshold of acceptance over the lorry's behaviour is much lower compared to local reactions here.

Even so, a few commentators agreed that rude cyclists were a global occurrence.

What happened after the accident:

Top image collage from Roads.sg and Whatcouldgowrong Reddit