Singaporeans Are Not Bad Drivers

Just before the Chinese New Year, I saw an article in the Strait Times that state that most people in Southeast Asia believe that Singaporeans are bad drivers. If I remembered correctly, 69 out of 100 Singaporeans surveyed agree with that assessment.

I disagree. To me Singaporeans are not bad drivers, we are terrible drivers! We really are. The article in the papers state that Singaporeans do not give way (which is true) because Singaporeans are law-abiding citizens who do not take kindly to people cutting queue. That is wrong. No one in Singapore give way because Singaporeans has a cannot-lose attitude to life. Singaporeans just can't stand the sight of another car taking their spot on the road because that will mean they would have lost out to the other driver. Not acceptable in Singapore.

I personally think this is why no one on their signal light when they change lanes in Singapore. I lost count on the number of times when I on my signal light to change lanes, and the car in the other lane speed up instead of slowing down. I find it much easier to just cut the lanes without the signal lights, something which I think most Singaporeans agree with.

Another reason I think Singaporeans are bad drivers is because we are whiners on the road. Cars are status symbols in Singapore and as such Singaporeans are very protective about their cars. I personally know of one incident in which a Singaporean complain about a bumpy stretch of road to his foreign friend and the friend, who drive on the road everyday, has no idea what the Singaporean was talking about. To Singaporeans, roads must be prefect and not even a crack on the road is not allowed. It will make the road bumpy! So Singaporeans whine about road conditions even when there there's nothing to complain about.

So don't say Singaporeans are bad drivers. We're not bad; we are terrible!