An angry confrontation between a pedestrian and a GrabFood driver over the latter’s electric scooter near Bishan park has gone viral after a video was posted on Facebook on Saturday.
Mohammed Shamirrudan had been riding his scooter on the pavement when a man known as Tan apparently tried to stop him for speeding.
After telling Tan to contact the police if he had an issue with the e-scooter, the grocery bag-wielding Tan decides he’d rather angrily confront the man. When a woman who appears to be Tan’s wife attempts to calm him down, she ends up getting knocked to the ground, where she spends significant time rolling around in pain.
Shamirrudan also claims in his narration that Tan tried to strike him with his belt, though we can’t see any belt swinging in this version of the video.
A man in dark sunglasses then shows up to mediate, suggesting that both of them calm the hell down and resolve the issue by calling the police.
Aside from accusing Shamirrudan of speeding, Tan also said he believed Shamirrudan had violated the law by riding his scooter on the pavement in the first place.
Not so fast, argued Shamirrudan, who said as the bike was an electric scooter and therefore a personal mobility device (PMD), he was perfectly within his rights to ride on the pavement. Based on our reading of the law (you can check it out right here), that sounds likely to be true.
Don’t believe us? Just ask the unnamed man in sunglasses, who explained to Tan in the video that as much as he disagreed with Shamirrudan’s use of the e-scooter, the delivery man was not violating any laws.
“The government allowed it,” he said. “He’s here for business. I don’t like this thing (PMDs), but these (are the) rules. They follow the rules. He follows the rules.”
Believe it or not, if you stick with the video long enough, even more people show up to take sides in this ridiculousness.
Blessedly, the police finally arrive, thus concluding our long national nightmare.
Grab is aware of the incident and is investigating the matter, a spokesperson told Coconuts Singapore.
Separately, Shamirrudan said he has given his statement to the police and does not wish to pursue the case.
Coconuts Singapore has contacted the police for comment and will update this story as information becomes available.
Related stories:
Watch out: The LTA’s really ramping up its efforts to catch errant e-scooter riders
Road rules: More than 20 e-scooter and e-bicycle riders caught in Punggol operation
Reader Interactions