The humble dashboard camera — or dash cam for short — has become an essential component of every Singaporean’s collection of vehicular gizmos the past couple of years.
With dozens of dash cams on the market that can range from cheap-ass, low-res devices to high-end, military-grade tools, the prices don’t matter when the captured footage may turn out to be invaluable in difficult situations on the road. For instance, when imbecilic scam artists throw themselves onto your windscreen, then try to demand compensation.
There aren’t any statistics publicly available on the percentage of motorists in Singapore who use dash cams, but with a constant stream of viral footage from community portals like Singapore Reckless Drivers, Beh Chia Lor and Roads.sg, you can safely assume that a huge portion of drivers here now have them. Sure, the clips from motorists across the country aren’t as messed up as the ones coming out of Russia, but they’re still enough to make you go “daaaaaamn, son”.
For entertainment (and educational) purposes, we’ve come up with a list compiling some of the greatest dash cam moments of the past couple of years. For ethical and moral reasons, we’re leaving out clips that depict serious injuries and deaths — but surely you can find those out by yourselves. Ya sick loons.
The Pancake
As hard as it is to believe, it wasn’t this driver’s time to shuffle off this mortal coil just yet, even though his car got completely pancaked when a trailer truck suddenly veered into his path along the Pan-Island Expressway. He would have emerged completely unscathed from the wreckage, too, if not for some bruises on his fingers.
The E-bike Bandits
Here’s an oldie but a goodie from before the government knew what to do with the growing number of electric bikes and scooters on the road. Reality came crashing hard on two dumbasses who thought they could play with the big boys on a motorized bicycle, casually cruising straight through a red light. The collision near Yio Chu Kang MRT left the car pretty damaged, but the boys miraculously managed to walk it off.
The Ninja
Since we’re on the topic of personal mobility vehicles, this e-scooter rider fared better than the aforementioned dumbasses above, but we still imagine this must’ve hurt like hell. Thanks to his lightning-fast reflexes, he barely avoided getting smacked by a barreling van while crossing the road in Hougang. Dude looks shook, though.
The Ragdoll Physics
As this video shows, even pedestrians who have the absolute right of way while crossing the street aren’t safe from shitty drivers. Mad respect to the lady though, who shook off a direct hit with a Mercedes Benz like it was nothing.
The Silly Showboat
This showboating Nissan GTR driver quickly learned the error of his/her ways last after he/she sped off at a traffic junction before spinning out of control, stopped only by a construction site barricade. Hubris!
The Sofa Shenanigans
’Twas cloudy with a chance of sofas along Grange Road back in June when a rather surreal dashcam clip emerged showing sofas and cushions slamming onto the ground during a bout of heavy rain. We truly have a deep-seated problem with high-rise littering, eh?
The Ghost Car
This one left a whole lotta people spooked, but we imagine with the right angle and reflection on the camera lens, it looks like a car suddenly materialized out of nowhere — only to be hit.
The Cartwheel
Yeap, we’re going to hell for laughing at this clip of a cyclist who flipped over after getting shook by car honks. But it was the “SIAO AH” (“Are you crazy?”) at the end that left us in absolute stitches.
The Sudden Sideswipe
This gnarly accident in Bugis is the dash cam equivalent of a horror movie jump scare. You’ll shit bricks.
The Fury Road
What started off as small swipe escalated quickly into a Mad Max scenario. Will they ride eternal, shiny and chrome? Nah, fam.
The Rejection
You might have pissed your pants if you were driving behind this excavator, which very nearly flipped over after the truck driver transporting it misjudged the vehicular height limit while entering the underground Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway tunnel.
The Vicious Cycle
Cyclists generally have a hard time riding on Singapore’s roads — or any roads meant for proper vehicles, really — and this video doesn’t prove that theory wrong. Don’t worry, the cyclist’s wife assured everyone that the driver had been very helpful and took responsibility (and that her husband will be more careful on roads without bike lanes).
The Porsche Prat
It’s not only cyclists though; even seasoned motorcyclists in Singapore will encounter rough landings at least once in their lifetimes. Take this dude for example who got rear-ended by a Porsche driver in a hit-and-run accident. The rider suffered a couple of injuries, but quickly assured folks he’d be “back on the metal stallion till (he’s) six feet under”.
The Brass Balls
No accident here, but you’ll still go “daaaamn” at the brass balls of this driver who ran a red light AND made an illegal turn at a junction. Right in front of two traffic police officers.
The Jurassic Park
We saved the best for last. Two years ago at the Kranji Expressway, seven cars, three lorries, a truck and a taxi were involved in one big humungous accident caused by a runaway mobile crane. Despite the massive bulldozing of vehicles by a T-rex made of metal, only two people were injured. The footage that emerged, however, is an absolute screamer.
What are we missing? If you’ve got a badass dash cam video to share, hit us up at singapore@coconuts.co
