(Wednesday, December 1, 2010 / 5:51 PM)
Title: Biker enraged at driver's poor manners
Angry biker tails the driver for 20km. Driver claims biker threatened: 'I will remember you wherever you go'.By Geraldine YeoIT WAS his fault, he admitted.
He tried to switch lanes on the expressway without signalling, which irked other motorists.
But what Mr Jonathan Wong did not expect was for one motorcyclist to be so riled up that he tailed his car for almost 20km - with his high beam throughout.
The "chase" ended when Mr Wong was cornered by the biker at a multi-storey carpark in Woodlands. But the drama did not end there.
Mr Wong, 39, a construction coordinator, claimed that the man got off his bike, kicked his car door, pulled him by the collar of his shirt and hurled vulgarities at him.
The scuffle ended only after the cops arrived at the scene.
The incident happened last Tuesday.
Around 7.30pm, Mr Wong picked up his wife from her workplace in Redhill. The couple then headed home to Bukit Panjang in their Toyota Altis.
On the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE), Mr Wong, who was travelling on the first lane, tried to filter into the second lane.
There are three lanes and he was hoping to exit the BKE at Dairy Farm Road.
Mr Wong admitted that he did not signal before trying to filter into the second lane.
As he tried to switch lanes, he suddenly saw that another car was fast approaching, so he quickly moved back into his first lane.
Unknown to him, his actions had upset a motorcyclist on a red motorcycle who was travelling behind Mr Wong's car.
After Mr Wong managed to switch into the second lane, the biker turned on his high beam and started tailing his car closely.
Mr Wong said: "I realised he was following me because he started moving to the third lane when I did."
Afraid that the biker would follow him all the way home, he decided to make a detour, so he went on the Kranji Expressway (KJE).
But the motorcyclist continued pursuing him.
Mr Wong claimed he was driving at 90km/h.
Sensing that the biker was out to create trouble, he told his wife to call the police.
"The police gave us directions to the nearest police station, which was at Woodlands Drive 63," said Mr Wong.
But a wrong turn resulted in the couple being cornered.
Mr Wong had missed the turn into the street where Woodlands Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) was. Instead, he ended up at the block of a nearby multi-storey carpark.
There, Mr Wong tried to do a three-point turn. But in the midst of doing so, the motorcyclist caught up with him and cornered his car.
Mr Wong said: "He parked his bike in front of my car. I tried to gesture to him to move away, but he didn't."
Instead, Mr Wong claimed that the biker, who looked to be in his 30s, approached his car and hammered the windshield once with his fist.
He kicked the driver's door
He then kicked the driver's door.
The impact left a dent and a few scratches on Mr Wong's second-hand car which he bought six months ago.
Said Mr Wong: "The motorcyclist then gestured for me to wind down my window, which I did."
He claimed that the man then reached inside the car and grabbed his polo T-shirt.
"He grabbed my collar and started to pull at it very vigorously. He then scolded vulgarities," said Mr Wong.
Mr Wong added that the man tugged at his shirt so hard that part of the shirt tore.
He claimed the biker then removed his helmet, and pointing to his own face, said: "I will remember you wherever you go. Mark my face. I will remember your car licence plate wherever you go."
The man then stood at the corner of Mr Wong's car to prevent him from driving off.
A few minutes later, a police car from the Woodlands NPC arrived.
A police spokesman told The New Paper that they received a call at around 8.20pm informing them of a dispute near Block 639A, Woodlands Ring Road.
Mr Wong said the police spoke to the two parties separately. He claimed that he was told by the officers to apologise to the motorcyclist, which he refused to.
He added that the police told him he could file a traffic accident report if he wished to.
That was what Mr Wong did at the Police Cantonment Complex at New Bridge Road later that night.
Police confirmed the report and said they are looking into the matter.
Said Mr Wong: "If I don't stand up to road bullies, they may think they can get away with it."
Lawyer William Chai said the incident can be classified as harassment or even assault.
He noted that Mr Wong has two options - either to press the police to take action or to file a civil suit against the motorcyclist.
If need be, Mr Wong's wife can act as a witness.
Mr Chai added: "The driver has a high chance of succeeding in this case, given the duration of the chase as well as the total distance they travelled."
1. BKE
Near the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Mr Wong tries to switch lanes without signalling. The upset motorcyclist turns on his high beam and starts tailing him.
2. KJE
Instead of exiting from the BKE - which is his usual route home - he goes onto the KJE. The biker continues following him.
3. WOODLANDS ROAD, 8pm
Mr Wong's wife calls the police, who then direct her to the Woodlands Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) at Woodlands Drive 63.
4. BLOCK 639A WOODLANDS RING ROAD, 8.20pm
Mr Wong misses the turn into the NPC and instead ends up at the entrance of the multistorey carpark at this block. When he tries to turn out, the motorcyclist stops his bike right in front of Mr Wong's car, blocking him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------LEONARD:...After reading this article, I feel that what the motorcyclist did was rather foolish. Yes, Mr Jonathan Wong, the driver was the one at fault. He did not signal while trying to change lane. My driving instructor always emphasize on the importance of signal as signal is the only thing that allows you to communicate with other road users.
...But the motorcyclist was so persistent to get even with Mr Wong, as he followed Mr Wong’s car for 20km until Mr Wong’s car was stuck at a block of a nearby multi – storey carpark. The angry motorcyclist then parked his bike infront of Mr Wong’s car and approached his car. The motorcyclist then hammered the windshield once with his fist, kicked the driver’s door which left a dent and a few scratches on it. Next, he grabbed Mr Wong’s polo T – shirt and scolded vulgarities at him. What the motorcyclist did was simply the acts of a bully! Even if Mr Wong was at fault, that doesn’t give him the rights to treat Mr Wong that way.
...So to conclude, I urge every road users obey the traffic rules as one small mistake from anyone will cost an accident to happen. Every road users should signal before trying to change lane as signal will let others know your intention.
RICHGINIA:...After reading the article, I feel that the biker has act on impulsion. Driver cutting into lanes without signaling is quite common. It usually ends off with a horn by the vehicle behind and a sorry signal. However, this is not the case for a driver, Mr Jonathan Wong. Mr Wong know that his was in the wrong for not signalling for a change of lane however, Mr Wong mistake has led to him being threaten by a biker and his car dented with scratches.
...We all know that Mr Wong is the victim for this incident. I feel that the situation may not have turn bad if Mr Wong has gave a hand signal to say sorry to the biker after he have move back to his lane one instead of just keeping the mistake to himself. I also feel that Mr Wong should have the habit of signalling before switching lanes especially with his family members in his car. He is not just responsible for his life but others as well. Hence, I feel that Mr Wong should also reflect on his actions. I am also quite impressed that Mr Wong has the courage to go against road bullies.
...However, by putting myself in the shoes of the biker, I feel that the actions of the biker should not be classified, as road bullies rather it is an act of impulsion. He might face danger when Mr Wong had tried to switch lanes and he felt his life was in danger at that point of time. He might be concern that if Mr Wong continues with his habit, more people maybe be in danger. Hence, he wanted to confront Mr Wong for what his wrong did. The biker acted very harsh on Mr Wong as his life was nearly in danger just now, which made him very pissed off with Mr Wong.
...In conclusion, I felt that both parties are at fault. However, I feel that if the biker had not confronted Mr Wong, the incident will not have happen. I feel that all divers should be more caution when driving and do not act on impulsion.
ALLYSON:...After reading this article, I feel that both the driver and the motorcyclist are in the wrong. After all the advertisements from the traffic police about driving safely and signaling before turning, the driver should have known that he should signal before switching lanes. Without doing so, other drivers would not have known that he wanted to switch lanes and an accident could also have occurred, endangering the lives of those around him. This shows that he is a very inconsiderate person and does not spare a thought for others.
...I understand that the motorcyclist was very upset by the incident but I feel that he got too angry over a small incident like this and over-reacted. He should just have shrugged it off and moved on, instead of following the driver around instead just to vent his anger on him as I’m sure there are many other drivers out there who do not signal before switching lanes. The motorcyclist should certainly go for anger management classes to learn how to control his temper.
...Since both of them are in the wrong, they should both apologize to each other and move on with their lives and not make a big deal out of this small incident.
TECK JIE:...Through this article, I felt that both parties are in the wrong, as Mr. Wong should not change the lane without signaling and the biker should not rain vulgarities and vent his anger at Mr. Wong car even if he is very frustrated about Mr. Wong irresponsible action.
...On the appearance, the biker seems to be the only one who has been charged by Mr. Wong for the scolding of vulgarities on him but Mr. Wong should also play a part on the responsibility for this incident to happen as he did not signal to the other road users. Moreover, when Mr. Wong was told by the police officer to apologize to the biker he refused to do it, this worsens the situation.
...I felt that if he really and sincerely apologizes to the biker, this incident would have a happy ending such that Mr. Wong would not incurred bad relationship with this biker.
...In conclusion, it is naturally for human to be angry by others angry action, however, we should also need to recognize that the wrong things that we do to anger others.
HAFIZAH:...For many years, there were many cases of accidents that involved a car and a motorcycle. Why accidents happened? For me, I think both the car driver and motorcyclist were reckless and were totally not careful. In Singapore, we are fortunate enough to have a well-built road for us to drive on and we seldom have traffic jams unlike other countries with busy roads. But if drivers are not considerate and reckless while driving, accidents can happen anytime, anywhere and then definitely will cause traffic jams.
...For this article, I felt that both parties are in the wrong. First for Mr Wong, he made mistakes while driving and that actually causes the motorcyclist to be mad at him. Imagine if Mr Wong were speeding and accidentally hit the motorcyclist harder than before, the motorcyclist could have injured himself or if it is so serious, the motorcyclist could have died. But the good thing is that Mr Wong admitted he was wrong. For the motorcyclist, I think that he was also at fault. We all know he is very upset and mad at Mr Wong but he should not have acted violently and rudely towards Mr Wong. He could have call Mr Wong out from his car politely, and they could actually discuss the matter personally.
...In conclusion, we all learnt that violence does not solve the problem. We need patience and at the same time, co-operation. We always have to be careful on the road and if any accidents were to happen, we have to be responsible for our own mistakes and apologize to the other party sincerely. If we are stubborn ourselves, nobody would want to co-operate with us and they will act the same way to us. So the first thing is, be nice to others and others will be nice to us too.
