7 Biggest complaints about driving in Singapore

With the high cost of owning a car in Singapore, you’d have expected that paying such a high price will guarantee a seamless driving experience. But no. While you can ensure that your car gives you a smooth ride, you can’t quite control the external factors, and many drivers are not keeping quiet about it.

A quick look at car forums would show that drivers here can be unhappy with quite a number of things. While you might not be able to control some of these factors, you can of course, control how you feel about it. Here’s a look at some of the complaints that Singaporean drivers often bring up:

1. Cost of driving a car

We already know that car price is extremely expensive in Singapore. But other than buying a car, you’d need to factor in some other extra costs. ERP, petrol costs and not forgetting exorbitant parking fees in the CBD. So do remember to factor in all these extra costs when you are thinking about buying a car!

2. Traffic jams

One of the main reasons for the expensive car price here is to deter drivers from buying a car. This is to ensure that the car population remains under control and not overcrowd our small island. But guess what? Singaporeans seem to be pretty rich as well, judging by the number of cars we see on the road.

The problem? Traffic jams. Terrible ones, and almost a daily affair for some who drives to work every day. Well, it might be worth it for the convenience, and to escape being squashed like sardines in the MRT.

3. Bad parking habits

This is especially annoying when there’s a lack of car park space and you spot a car that takes up 2 slots because the driver didn’t park properly. Or perhaps the car was blocking you from taking a slot?

And the complaints don’t stop here. It continues when you go home. “Why did your neighbour take your favourite parking slot?” “How can someone park at the car-wash bay in your condominium”? Yup… first-world problem.

4. Bad driving etiquette

Lack of signalling, not allowing others to overtake despite signalling or driving too slowly is just plain annoying. Yet, it’s not really worth the effort to make your sentiments known since it might escalate into an unintentional road-rage episode. What to do? Guess you just gotta let it slide.

5. Car insurance scams

Car insurance scams have been on the rise in recent years. And if you haven’t heard about it, the scams usually go like this:

While you might not have planned to be involved, you were unlucky enough. And guess what, it can also cost you your no-claim discount, plus all the unnecessary hassle you need to go through. So remember to get your NCD Protector if you want to ensure you don’t lose your discount in such an instance.

6. Queue-cutting

In a dense city like ours, queueing seems like an inevitable part of life. While most of us may be polite and queue quietly during a traffic jam or when waiting to get into the right lane, there will always be someone who attempts to cut the queue. What’s worse is that this person might make it a habit. While one might find that cutting queue is the shortcut to saving time, it can put other drivers in danger. Exercise some graciousness and take heart that it’ll come around.

7. Neverending Road works

Other than the annoying drilling sound and insane amount of dust, road works also cause lots of wasted time and long queues of motor-vehicles. Not to mention, some of these cause so much disruption that it can go on for years( MRT lines?). But well, what can be done? Little. Or simply change your route.

While having a car can bring you great convenience, the land-scarce nature of Singapore also means driving can be quite a hassle. Forget about long relaxing roads with beautiful scenery. Driving in Singapore means sharing the crowded road and facing intense stress.

But always remember that a little graciousness goes a long way, so we can all do our part to make driving more enjoyable in Singapore.