Road accidents are not uncommon in Singapore, especially during the rush hour when vehicles are aplenty.
One incident on Tuesday morning served as a stark contrast to the road rage videos that often go viral online, bringing out the best of at least five motorists as they were spotted rushing to the aid of an injured motorcyclist.
A video of the accident was shared on Facebook page ROADS.sg, with the post stating that it had occurred along the Seletar Expressway after Upper Thomson Road exit at about 7.45am.
In the clip which appears to be dashcam footage taken from another vehicle, a motorcyclist dressed in grey can be seen steadily overtaking three other motorcycles but appears to have failed to spot a Mercedes that came to a sudden stop. Unable to stop in time, the motorcyclist ended up crashing into the back of the car.
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Subsequent footage shared by other users showed that the Mercedes had stopped because of a chain collision that happened ahead.
The momentum caused the motorcyclist to flip forward off his motorcycle and land on his back on the car’s windscreen, which shattered on impact.
The motorcyclist subsequently climbed off the car and appeared to be in shock. He then holds onto his right hip, seemingly in pain.
Almost immediately, two motorcyclists dismounted from their motorcycles to check on him, while a third helped to move the bike off the car. The driver of the car was also seen coming out of his vehicle to speak to the motorcyclist.
As the motorcyclist takes off his helmet to wipe his face with a cloth, another man comes over to check on him again. That man later takes another cloth to wipe the motorcyclist’s back.
True to form, some netizens were quick to blame the motorcyclist for the accident. One commented: Gap so small still want to overtake… Rushing for the checkpoint, end up accident.”
Another netizen chimed in: “Serve the rider right for trying to overtake others and failure to keep a proper lookout.”
However, Facebook user Syahrul Abdul Rahim took a different view of the incident. Instead of playing the blame game, Syahrul praised those who took the time to ensure that the motorcyclist was fine despite not being involved in the accident.
“I (would) like to commend the fellow road users including the driver (whether they are directly or indirectly involved) for attending to the rider and asking about his well-being,” he wrote.
“Being gracious is a thumbs up. Everything else right or wrong is secondary and can be settled in due time and course.”
Indeed. Instead of driving off, the motorists in the video didn’t hesitate to stop and lend a hand to another road user in a moment of need.
As ROADS.sg wrote in the caption of the video, kudos and thank you to all who stopped and helped the motorcyclist who was involved in the accident.
And more importantly, thank you for not forgetting to exercise kindness even in your rush to get somewhere.