A group of cyclists was caught on video mobbing a taxi driver in the middle of Middle Road on Oct. 21, 2023.
According to the video uploaded on the Facebook group SG Road Vigilante, the incident occurred at around 8:25am in the morning.
The uploaded video consisted of segments of in-car camera footage of what happened on the road before the dispute and a video of the quarrel between the cyclists and the taxi driver in the middle of the road.
Dispute over stopping in middle of road
The in-car camera footage shows the group of about five cyclists cycling in the leftmost and middle lane of the three-lane road behind a taxi.
When the taxi stopped, around a car length away from the car in front of it, which had also stopped for the traffic light, one of the cyclists behind the taxi appeared to hit or almost hit the taxi's rear, causing the cyclist to stumble.
Image via SG Road Vigilante
The group of cyclists then surrounded the taxi.
Image via SG Road Vigilante
Verbal altercation in the middle of road
A verbal altercation ensued after the group of cyclists surrounded the taxi. It appeared to be filmed by one of the cyclists.
The video started with a man, who appeared to be the taxi driver, saying agitatedly, “Buay song lai loh” (not happy come lah), along with a slew of vulgarities.
Image via SG Road Vigilante
A cyclist responded with a repeat of the vulgarities while another cyclist behind the camera went on to ask the taxi driver thrice, “Why you jam brake?”
The taxi driver retorted, “You (cut) into my lane. Why I cannot jam brake?!”
The cyclist who's filming then asked, “Why you cut into his lane?” before repeating, “Why you jam brake?” a few times more.
“You see you jam brake, the car in front so far away. You jam brake here, you know,” he said, before turning the camera to the road to show the gap between the taxi and the car in front of it.
Image via SG Road Vigilante
Here's another angle showing the gap between the taxi and the other car.
Image via SG Road Vigilante
The taxi driver crossed arms and let out a laugh.
Image via SG Road Vigilante
“You trying to injure alot of drivers, riders, you know?” the filming cyclist added.
The taxi driver then responded with a rapid slew of Hokkien vulgarities.
Cyclist fell of bike and sat in the middle of the road
At one point, the taxi driver walked over to the front of his car.
While doing so, his legs appeared to bump into a bicycle, which led to it falling to the ground, along with its cyclist.
Image via SG Road Vigilante
The cyclist, sitting on the ground, then asked one of the cyclists, “You have it on camera, ah?”
A few cyclists replied that they had "it" on camera.
The topic of “money” was raised in the later half of the video, but the context was unclear.
The taxi driver could be heard saying, "Never mind, never mind. I got money. Taxi driver don't have money ah? (sic)"
One of the cyclists confronted another driver after getting "honked"
Prior to the fracas with the taxi driver, the video also included snippets from another in-car camera recording of the cyclists.
The footage showed the cyclists riding in the middle lane of a three-lane road, in front of a Hyundai car, purportedly prior to the “taxi incident”.
Image via SG Road Vigilante
When the cyclists and the car stopped at a traffic light, a cyclist could be seen gesturing at the car.
The video caption stated that the cyclist "confront(ed)" the car driver because he "honked".
Image via SG Road Vigilante
Here's the full video: