Running Folk out of Town ....

[American]

Only 1 year but don't pay too much attention to the day to day news

[ecureilx]

For some it may be like farting or burping out loud during, for example, an opera performance. It is not illegal to do it I guess (whether it is or not is immaterial anyway) and If such person is a teenager, is it a good reason to ignore any such behavior?

mmm, isn't loudly belching and throwing bones on the table, etc etc, part of SG's national heritage ? And also using a drink straw to pick the teeth ..

Oh, btw,

[Barnsley]

Only 1 year but don't pay too much attention to the day to day news

Ang Moh Road rage was running at one a month for a while , it appeared our local friends didnt understand hand signals by cyclists so then proceeded to try and run them off the road. When said cyclist reacted with annoyance , this was then "stomped" and all over the local media for a week as folk competed to be the most outraged.

I think one guy even put the window through on the car that tried to kill him.... Maybe an over reaction , but when some dimwit almost kills me then I probably get a bit annoyed as well.

[sundaymorningstaple]

The lady in the car with the dipshit driver pee'd herself probably when that fist came through the side window sending pellets of safety glass all over the interior of the car. lol

[zzm9980]

what were the offensive words on the T-shirt?
nowhere does it seem to mention that

Unless it had a photo of that specific Ang Mo's mother along with a vulgar phrase, It's 100% irrelevant. And even then, that isn't the right reaction. Ang Mo should have pressed charges for outrage of modesty.

[American]

Ang Moh Road rage was running at one a month for a while , it appeared our local friends didnt understand hand signals by cyclists so then proceeded to try and run them off the road. When said cyclist reacted with annoyance , this was then "stomped" and all over the local media for a week as folk competed to be the most outraged.

I think one guy even put the window through on the car that tried to kill him.... Maybe an over reaction , but when some dimwit almost kills me then I probably get a bit annoyed as well.

Precisely why I gave up on cycling soon after I moved here. I have seen those stomper videos and found it quite sad. I think they treat all cyclists poorly as they don't think they deserve the right to be on the road. There was an incident where a local SEA cyclist got hit during training and he got the blame. Also there was a fixed gear crit whereby the organized got some huge fine or jail time because he didn't organize a permit.

It's just that the Ang mo's defend themselves on the road more, and are more daring, and hence get stomped
Out for it. Funny how the general sentiment on those online forums is that the lousy driver is always in the clear.

Thought about mounting 2 go pros on my bike as a safety precaution and to capture any bad drivers while I cycle but I'd prefer to just stay off the road some place where it's just not welcomed - sucked all the joy out of cycling.

[x9200]

I don't think it is about being welcomed or not. You are smaller with limited ability to make your points so you tend to be ignored.

Also, you may feel unsafe because you expect the drivers to follow traffic regulations what is obviously not the case. But even if they do not follow the rules they still follow some patterns and after a while it becomes pretty obvious you should not trust the local drivers in many situations in other countries you would tend to trust. If you adjust your expectations and learn these patterns it can still be (I believe) a pleasurable experience.

I knew people who commuted to work by a bike, excess of 10km one way, every day and funny enough they claimed it was actually safer in Singapore than in many Western countries.

[nakatago]

I knew people who commuted to work by a bike, excess of 10km one way, every day and funny enough they claimed it was actually safer in Singapore than in many Western countries.

In Singapore, drivers are just oblivious, have poor spatial awareness and would eventually run over people. In other countries, they aim for you.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Nak, you may be on to something there. Never quite looked at it that way, but as a long time cyclist on the little red dot, I do believe you just shot a hole-in-one!

[American]

i find that problem of spatial awareness being a normal pedestrian around the orchard area (CBD less so). people walking around on their smart phones oblivious to the world around them knocking and bumping all those trying to get around them. and aunties with their huge bags knocking little kids in the head accidentally - just oblivious. spatial awareness is an area of improvement on the little red dot! maybe the goverment will institute a 'suggested' way-of-walking in congested areas, walk to the left at the same flow of traffic. faster walkers toward the middle, slower walkers toward the left. if people governed their walking patters like they do in japan, things would be a lot smoother here for pedestrians.

[x9200]

I knew people who commuted to work by a bike, excess of 10km one way, every day and funny enough they claimed it was actually safer in Singapore than in many Western countries.

In Singapore, drivers are just oblivious, have poor spatial awareness and would eventually run over people. In other countries, they aim for you.

Hard to say. I used to think they were oblivious. Some surely are, but for the majority it is IMHO a mixture of fixed expectations and opportunistic behaviour.

For example, they will never change the lane just parallel to the car occupying that lane. They will always go in front of that car and try to squeeze in. The other driver is expected to slow down and let them in (without showing any disapproval) and this is what happens in like 95% of the cases. It's one of those patterns.

[ecureilx]

If Anybody says cycling in Singapore is unsafe, they should try in any of the Asian countries nearby ..

At least Singapore has park connectors and all.

In a nearby Megapolis, which is trying to promote cycling (and the senators did a few publicity cycling campaigns ...of course with their BGs in tow ..) I tried cycling just a km before I realised they don't have side walks to take refuge from deadly drivers, and whatever side walk existed was full of deadly holes - so you can fly ass over head direct to their open sewers ... and straight to heaven I guess.

And with no lane dividers even motorbikes on the opposite direction were trying to run me down, (including speeding females, all sans helmet ...) because mere cyclists didn't warrant any attention ..

My friends said they bring their bikes to special cycling tracks, or use the bikes only during events when the roads are blocked out.

No comments ...

[ecureilx]

! maybe the goverment will institute a 'suggested' way-of-walking in congested areas, walk to the left at the same flow of traffic. faster walkers toward the middle, slower walkers toward the left. if people governed their walking patters like they do in japan, things would be a lot smoother here for pedestrians.

The govt has been doing a few keep left on escalators, and such courtesy campaigns

And the natives blame the lawless new arrivals for not following them :P

[nakatago]

Nak, you may be on to something there. Never quite looked at it that way, but as a long time cyclist on the little red dot, I do believe you just shot a hole-in-one!

It's something that dawned upon me while in a "Western" country. In the inner city where people are more progressive, motorists are more civil towards pedestrians and cyclists...but the further out you go, the redder people's necks are, the more aggressive their driving gets. (But it think it will go back to being civil the further into the country or ye olde homey towns you get where everyone knows everyone else by name).

In one case, I was crossing the road and while in the middle, I quickly picked up something I thought would be hazard to drivers. As soon as I look up, I just realized this asshole driver was willing to drive through without waiting for me to clear the way.

In Singapore, it doesn't matter where you are: "you're not me therefore I don't see you."

And about spatial awareness, the usual suspects also lack it in other countries as well!
* get the hell out of my way if you want to get in this train I'm getting off of
* why the hell would you put your luggage in the middle of the aisle?
* you know that yellow box you're standing on? yeah, they put it there so that people won't linger at the top of escalator
* what the bjork?! we made eye contact and you still ran into me?! and I'm just standing here!
* stop. holding. up. the. bus. let the people with proper tickets get on.
* learn to f****ing read.

[nakatago]

! maybe the goverment will institute a 'suggested' way-of-walking in congested areas, walk to the left at the same flow of traffic. faster walkers toward the middle, slower walkers toward the left. if people governed their walking patters like they do in japan, things would be a lot smoother here for pedestrians.

The govt has been doing a few keep left on escalators, and such courtesy campaigns

And the natives blame the lawless new arrivals for not following them :P

It's the mindset that "you're not me, therefore, I must be right and you are wrong! I can never be wrong because I'm me and you're always wrong because you're not me."