Car driver who grabbed and threw bus captain’s phone charged with committing public nuisance

[The_King]

SINGAPORE – A bus captain who sounded his horn at a car that was in his vehicle’s way was verbally abused by the car driver, who later snatched the bus captain’s phone and threw it onto the road.

On Saturday, Teo Kian Chin, 42, the driver of the car, was charged in court with committing a public nuisance.

Footage of the incident – which took place at a bus stop in Flora Drive on Oct 31 near midnight – has been shared on social media and shows Teo hurling vulgarities at the SBS Transit bus driver.

The bus driver had sounded his horn when he could not exit the bus bay because Teo’s car – a black Mercedes-Benz sedan - was in the way.

Teo is then shown shouting at the bus captain before driving a short distance away, only to return to the bus.

He presses the emergency door button on the bus’ exterior and boards the bus. He shouts at the bus captain and grabs the latter’s phone.

 

A woman, believed to be Teo’s passenger, coaxes him to alight, and he flings the phone onto the road.

 

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, Mrs Grace Wu, SBS Transit’s vice-president for customer experience and communications, said the bus operator does not “tolerate acts of harassment, intimidation and verbal abuse against our bus captains.”

The phone was returned to the bus captain by the woman, said Mrs Wu, who added that the bus captain had been in contact with SBS Transit’s operations control centre throughout the incident.

She said: “As a matter of policy, we will not tolerate any abuse against our staff and will fully back any staff who wishes to defend their rights beyond the criminal justice system and file for civil action.

“This means helping victimised staff navigate the legal system, including appointing representation, as well as undertaking the costs.”

 

Hell hath no fury like a Mercedes-Benz driver honked. A motorist was so furious that an SBS Transit bus captain sounded the horn at him that he got out of his Mercedes to shout at the bus captain and bang against the side of the bus. The driver later managed to get onto the bus to confront the bus captain, snatched away his phone and threw it on the road after arguing with him. SBS Transit said it has made a police report against the Mercedes driver. Credit: Peter Gwee

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In a Facebook post on Sunday, Mr Melvin Yong, the National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general and the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) executive secretary, described Teo’s actions as “thuggish and unreasonable”.

Citing the Highway Code, which states that vehicles are not allowed to be parked at a bus stop, Mr Yong said: “The NTWU does not tolerate any abuse of our public transport workers when they are carrying out their duties.”

If convicted of committing a public nuisance, Teo can be fined up to $2,000.

 

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