Lorry driver and cyclist road rage incident (2018)

On 22 December 2018, a lorry driver and a road cyclist got into a dispute at Pasir Ris. The video of the incident leading up to the argument went viral with some netizens supporting the cyclist while others supported the lorry driver.

Details of incident

A screengrab from the viral video that had been uploaded onto ROADS.sg. Photo from The Straits Times.

The incident took place at the junction of Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Pasir Ris Rise on 22 December 2018. According to video footage of the incident that had been uploaded onto ROADS.sg’s Facebook Page (FB video), the cyclist was riding in the middle of the lane in front of the lorry. When the cyclist moved towards the left of the lane, he hit the side mirror of the lorry. The lorry driver then swerved the vehicle towards the cyclist, knocking him off his bike and onto the grass beside the road. The police arrived at the scene at 11.53 am but the lorry driver was no longer at the accident scene. As of 4 June 2019, the video has been shared 29,141 times and viewed 3.1 million times on Facebook.

On 24 December 2018, a second video surfaced on the ROADS.sg Facebook page which showed the aftermath of the incident (FB video). In the second video, the lorry driver was holding up what seemed to be his mobile phone which had been pointed towards the cyclist. The cyclist then snatched the mobile phone from the lorry driver. When the lorry driver extended his hand to ask for his mobile phone, the cyclist placed the mobile phone in the lorry driver’s shirt pocket instead.

Responses

Netizens had differing views as to which party was in the wrong. Some supported the cyclist, saying that he may have taken up the lane to prevent the lorry from squeezing through and causing an accident and that the lorry driver could have exercised more patience. However, most netizens were on the lorry driver’s side as they felt that the cyclist was in the wrong for not only hogging the road but also smashing the side mirror of the lorry. By doing so, the retaliation by the lorry driver was to be expected.

On 23 December 2018, Malaysian songwriter Jordan Fong uploaded a parody music video he made of the incident on Facebook. The parody was based on Singaporean singer A-Do’s 他一定很爱你 (He must really love you), and was titled ‘他一定很生气 (He must be really pissed)’. (FB Video)

Misidentified cyclist

Following the incident, netizens attempted to identify the cyclist in the video. Many angry comments were wrongfully directed at Singaporean Peter Cheung. Netizens even left comments on his workplace's Facebook page, DDB Group Singapore, where they had voiced their displeasure at his alleged road misconduct.

Peter Cheung took to his Facebook to personally address the claims in a post dated 23 December 2018. He clarified that he had been wrongfully accused and expressed that he "would like the online harassment to stop”. He also added that he had filed a police harassment report and would refer anyone who continued to harass him to the relevant authorities. DDB Group Singapore also released an official statement on Facebook in an attempt to clear the name of their employee.

Further developments

Teo Seng Tiong (left) the lorry driver and Eric Cheung Hoyu (right) the identified cyclist. Photo from The Straits Times.

On 24 December 2018, the Singapore Police Force stated that both parties involved have been arrested. The lorry driver was arrested for rash riding while the cyclist was arrested for rash riding and mischief. The cyclist was identified to be British National Eric Cheung Hoyu and the lorry driver was identified to be Singaporean Teo Seng Tiong.

Teo Seng Tiong defence

The lorry driver’s lorry was also impounded by the Singapore Traffic Police for further investigations. Although he did not need to pay for storage fees, Teo Seng Tiong commented that he had been adversely affected as the lorry was his source of income and he still had to service the lorry's instalment loan which came up to S$800 a month. In an interview with Mandarin newspaper Lianhe Wanbao, the lorry driver claimed that he was trying to overtake the cyclist when he knocked him over. He added that he had instinctively swerved to his left when he heard a sound as he thought that he might have hit the taxi on his right.

Following the news that Teo Seng Tiong’s lorry was impounded by the Singapore Traffic Police, a petition titled ‘Please return Mr Teo’s Lorry’ (official petition page) was started by user An Average Poor Singaporean on the website Change.org on 17 March 2019. The petition was directed at the Singapore Traffic Police. As of 4 June 2019, the petition has garnered 8,072 signatures.

Court charges and sentence

Lorry driver Teo Seng Tiong initially faced the following charges:

• causing hurt to others through negligent behaviour
• not making a police report within 24 hours of a car accident

According to an article by Lianhe Zaobao dated 16 January 2019, Teo Seng Tiong was ready to plead guilty to his charges. However, Teo Seng Tiong changed his mind when the prosecution amended his initial charge to "acting rashly so as to cause hurt" which is a more grave offence. As such, he would be liable to serve a minimum of two weeks in jail.

Cyclist Eric Cheung Hoyu faced the following charges:

• committing mischief by knocking off the side mirror of Teo Seng Tiong’s lorry with his hand, causing damage of S$15.
• breaching traffic rules by riding his bicycle in the middle of the leftmost lane, instead of keeping to the far left edge of the road, thereby causing obstruction to faster-moving vehicles.

On 28 April 2019, District Judge Marvin Bay ruled that Eric Cheung Hoyu was guilty of the two charges and he was fined SGD$ 2,800 for his mistakes. Regarding the ruling, the judge noted that there were “elements of road rage” in Eric Cheung Hoyu’s behaviour but in his case “there was no injury caused to the lorry driver”. However, he noted that it was “inherently dangerous” for him to have ridden in the middle of the road.