Don't ride too fast: Delivery rider comes to blows with passerby in Hougang

A word of advice became the trigger of a brawl in Hougang Ave 5 on Saturday (July 18 ) evening.

When a man approached a food delivery rider to tell him to slow down on the footpath, the latter shouted at him, telling him not to malign him because he was not in the wrong.

The pair soon got into a heated argument and exchanged blows, Shin Min Daily News reported.

As the fight escalated, the rider used his bicycle lock to attack the man, who fought back with a battery he had removed from his own e-scooter.

In a video taken by an eyewitness, the man was seen knocking the rider to the ground and continuing to hit him, while the latter swung his bicycle lock in retaliation.

Seeing that the pair were wielding weapons, passers-by told the Chinese daily that they could only try to break up the fight by shouting that "the police are coming".

Five minutes into the brawl, the rider left the scene, telling the man that he'd be back.

The man sustained injuries on his forehead from the fight. He initially rejected medical treatment but eventually relented because the wound wouldn't stop bleeding.

The police soon arrived at the scene to take his statement.

According to the eyewitness, it was the delivery rider's colleague who was speeding on the footpath.

He nearly hit pedestrians with his e-scooter while making his way to pass the rider replacements for the sugarcane drinks he had spilt earlier.

However, the colleague took off before the man approached the riders to warn them about speeding.

The police said that a 54-year-old man was conveyed conscious to Sengkang General Hospital. Investigations are ongoing.

E-scooters were banned on footpaths last November over concerns about pedestrian safety.

While many delivery riders switched to using bicycles to make the rounds, some of them continued to defy the ban.

For riding an e-scooter on footpaths, one can be fined up to $2,000 and/or jailed for up to three months.

lamminlee@asiaone.com