Presenting... my (ex) ride. But well, this post isn't really about what i'm riding or why I sold off my bike, but I'm just going to vent my frustrations on the attitudes of the road users in Singapore.
As most of us know, in Singapore, to own a vehicle, one must obtain a COE (certificate of entitlement) and also have road tax that has to be renewed every 6 months or one year. Now YOU tell me, has anyone seen the actual "CERTIFICATE OF ENTITLEMENT" of your own vehicle? No?
Then, WE ALL KNOW how Singaporeans are. KIASU. And we all know that most Singaporeans live a hectic lifestyle. Always rushing, mostly always late. Unfortunately, rushing to work has become a very bad habit for Singaporeans.
The attitude of most Singaporean drivers are appalling. The road etiquette of foreign drivers on Singapore roads are worst! They all seem to have these mindset that "EH! I DRIVE CAR, MY COE AND ROAD TAX MUCHMUCH EXPENSIVE THAN YOU, YOU DIEDIE MUST GIVE WAY OKAY." Sad much? We motorcyclists pay road tax too. We have our rights on the roads to. And we deserve every ounce of respect because we are much more vulnerable on the roads.
It's a pity how the social media portray motorcyclists in a bad light and seems to always put the blame on motorcyclists for every serious accident or fatality on the road. Take Ms Hazel Ng's accident 2 months ago as an example. If she had realized that the lorry has been tailgating her, even when she tried to get away from that lorry, the lorry's deliberate act still knocked her down. So is it Hazel's fault? To say that Hazel knocked onto a lorry will be a very very very bad understatement. why not those people who made that claim, try get their ass on a bike and on purpose, go hit a lorry. doesn't make sense does it?
IN ALL HONESTLY, squeezing in between lanes isn't a wrong thing to do. It is just RIGHT for motorcyclists to be out of the way for most cars. Why do the driving schools emphasize so much on checking of blindspots before making every lane change and before making every turn? Why do driving schools emphasize on checking of both side and rear mirrors to make you aware of the traffic around you? WHY? It is because it's for all you brainless selfish drivers to keep a lookout for other road users and pedestrians alike. They are all much vulnerable to get hurt than you are.
It is also brainless for drivers to SUGGEST and ENFORCE the ruling that motorcyclists stay on the leftmost slower lane. HELLO, don't driving schools teach you that heavy vehicles have wider blindspot? DO you even wish to stay behind a big heavy vehicle whilst driving? I doubt so. SO please, don't suggest or emphasize rulings on matter where you yourself are unwilling to adhere to.
Why did i say that it is only right for bikes to squeeze in between lanes? Imagine if the car infront of you jammed brake, even if you kept a safe distance behind the car, it would still take you some time for you to get to a complete stop SAFELY if you have a good sense of balance. But even if you managed to stop behind the car that jammed his brakes, will the car behind you manage to stop in time? Drivers nowadays have completely no respect for motorcyclists. They have this assumption that since bikes only has 2 wheels, it would be easier and faster for us to brake and slow down. WRONG. we need to balance ourselves as well!
talking about safe distance, on a normal day on the expressway, a rider can't really keep a safe distance between himself and the car infront. why? because there will ALWAYS BE that impatient driver who will try to deliberately cut in front of you.
nowadays, LTA has been running on heels, stopping bikes and looking out for bike modification and such. Why is the government even bothered about these modifications? AND MIND YOU, THE FINES ARE QUITE A HEFTY AMOUNT. It's really stupid, that the government will rather enforce such ruling based on the modifications made to a vehicle, rather than enforcing safe driving and help save PEOPLE'S LIVES.
You know, in Shell, anything that happens to a plant, it will always be PEOPLE BEFORE ASSET. Meaning, anything happens, they will try to rescue the people be it contractors or its own staff FIRST. Afterwhich they will do what has to be done to the damage on site.
But has anyone realized that here in this money driven country, it is always FINES after FINES after FINES. Smoke anywhere, kena stopped by NEA and kena fined. Never put parking coupon, KENA FINE. Wear tinted visor, KENA FINE. There isn't even GIVE AND TAKE. On a sunny day, if one is wearing a tinted visor, okay la understandable. SUNNY AND GLARING right. If one is wearing a tinted visor at night, then THAT is a valid reason to fine him/her as wearing a tinted visor at night will limit ones vision. But to fine someone for wearing tinted visor on a sunny day, with "it will make your vision limited and risk your life" IS UTTERLY STUPID.
Instead of imposing fines on anything and everything, Singapore and it's concerning bodies should...
1- SET UP SAFE DRIVING CAMPAIGNS
2- STOP PRIVATE DRIVING INSTRUCTORS
3- ENFORCE DRIVERS TO KEEP A LOOKOUT FOR MOTORCYCLISTS
4- STOP BEING SO ANAL ON VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS. IF A CAR CATCH FIRE BECAUSE OF HIS ILLEGAL MODIFICATION, IT IS THE CAR OWNERS PROBLEM. BUT IF 1000 DRIVERS ARE RECKLESS DRIVERS, 10000 OTHER ROAD USERS' LIVES ARE AT STAKE
5- HAVE MORE THEORY LESSONS FOR CLASS 3 LEARNERS. STOP E-LEARNING FOR CLASS 3 LEARNERS AS THEY CAN JUST SKIP THROUGH THE E-LEARNING PROCESS.
6- SET UP QUIT SMOKING CAMPAIGNS. IMPOSING FINES AND INCREASING CIGARETTE PRICES WON'T HELP.
7- STOP POSTING GORE IMAGES ON CIGARETTE BOXES. GORGING ON FAST FOOD EVERYDAY RISKS ONES HEALTH AS WELL. STOP THE DOUBLE STANDARD
It will be a very long post if I continue on. That's it for the night.
Please don't be a brainless driver. Please keep the roads safe.
Yours truly,
xoxo.
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