What is driving like in SG?


Nikonzen

Senior Member
Nov 3, 2014
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Oklahoma, USA
Seems an innocent enough question.

What is the fastest you can go? Are there stupid people everywhere? What is the condition of your roads and highways and bridges?
 

Everyday I drive on a highway and some city streets with construction zones all along the way and all over the place. the roads have really just sort of crumbled to pos status. They ruin tires and struts. Since they did away with safety inspection stickers you ought to see some of the rides on the road. I miss walking to work.

I hear we get a lot of low mileage import engines from SG...
 

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Seems an innocent enough question.

What is the fastest you can go? Are there stupid people everywhere? What is the condition of your roads and highways and bridges?


* Fastest one can go 'legally'... 90kph.. but often closer to 100-110kph on the fast lane (right most lane)...

* Stupid people are everywhere... that include drunk driving... cut lane like they are the only road user on the road... and Road Warriors transported from Mad Max timeline dueling on the expressways...

* Conditions are good.. but of course, can't be said that its 100% good 100% of the time... but being a small Nation with alot less road network and more road users paying taxes... maintenance of roads/tunnels/bridges are done regularly...
 

Hello hloc.

The 90 kph limit is interesting to me as it reminds me of 70's USA 55mph interstate highway speed limits imposed because of the conditions created by oil embargo. They used to run campaigns that said 55 saves lives. It probably does.

I drive to fast. Sometimes like 140 kph. I rode at that speed for a while today. To fast even though the limit is 120.
 

Do any of you bros ever just cruise around in your cars? Joyride?

Do most of you on this board have cars?
 

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Hello hloc.

The 90 kph limit is interesting to me as it reminds me of 70's USA 55mph interstate highway speed limits imposed because of the conditions created by oil embargo. They used to run campaigns that said 55 saves lives. It probably does.

I drive to fast. Sometimes like 140 kph. I rode at that speed for a while today. To fast even though the limit is 120.


Roads are mostly jam pack during the peak hours... not as bad as Bangkok (Thailand) or Manila (Philippines)... but hard to get to those speed. Like I said... while officially the top speed is 90kph... most driver I know of, goes alot more than this. Also, the expressways (aka, Highways) are fitted with speed cameras along certain stretch of the road... getting caught is serious matter.. getting caught drunk driving (DUI) could end someone with jail time and a fine... a ban from driving could also be included by the Judge...

Btw... I don't drive or own a driving license... i just take enough car trips to know this...
 

Do any of you bros ever just cruise around in your cars? Joyride?

Do most of you on this board have cars?

I used to, when I had a car. Sometimes at 3am on a weekday, on the quieter industrial roads in the west.

Don't think many do that here. I went through a routine traffic stop once (checking for drunk drivers mostly), they asked where I was heading. "Just driving around" caused some confusion. Luckily, I have a trustworthy face, and they waved me through.

Stupid people, yes. I guess you find them everywhere. But I think the one thing I don't find driving in other countries is refusing to let someone in your lane -- speeding up to block them when they signal a lane change, EVEN if they are coming up on an obstruction, or getting out of the way for an ambulance. Generally, selfishness.
 

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Do any of you bros ever just cruise around in your cars? Joyride?

Do most of you on this board have cars?


Joyride when I was much younger... with my Navy pals at night, cruising along the expressway... that was when a friend of mine was driving his father's car...

As for owning a Car... I can't afford one... car ownership in SG is one of the most $$$$ is the world... from high import tax of the car/motorcycle... to paying the govt for a Certificate_of_Entitlement... non subsidised fuel... road tax and parking and ERP (tolls)... alot of us can't afford it.

But I'm quite ok with it... since I'm only 25mins on public transportation from home to workplace... and not having a car make paying my mortgage manageable (finish paying for my flat within 15yrs 4mths)...
 

I don't think many Singaporeans drive for leisure in Singapore. For those who love driving, they will probably go on a trip up north in Malaysia. I guess that most cars, which do not venture to Malaysia, will accumulate about 10,000 km per year.

One interesting observation visitors will notice is that there are proportionally more luxury cars on the roads. You will see lots of Mercs, BMWs, Audis and Lexus. It is normal to see Ferraris, Lambos and R8s now and then. I guess you know that cars here cost a bomb. An average 1.6 litre Japanese sedan cost S$100k (USD 70K). A BMW 5 series is double that.

Singapore has a number of highway/expressway (note: the length of these are around 10-20 km long). There are toll in most areas in the CBD or road approaching the CBD although we don't call it toll. It's call Electronic Road Pricing (ERP). ERP charges are automatically deducted when you go through the gantries. You need not slow down as deductions are done very fast. There are very few places where carpark is free. Petrol is about $1.80/litre - (USD $1.35). Owning a car is expensive and so is driving them.

There are quite a number of speed cameras in the highway to enforce the speed limit. They have been recently upgraded to digital models and their radars can track multiple cars. Ref light cameras are in quite a number of controlled junctions.

Just a snapshot of the driving scene here.
 

What is the condition of your roads and highways and bridges?
it will put some US roads to shame :)
Seriously, infrastructure here is nothing to worry.
 

For what it is worth I can barely afford an used car myself. :) I have always had to settle for second/third hand used old bomber jalopy which has always been all good in my eyes...I like old bomber sled jalopys. :) There are a lot of them around here that is for sure. I have worked on the high end cars all of my life I do that every day.

I was curious about the infrastructure and figured it would be first class. Those sort of conditions would make my foot heavy and I would be in trouble. In a nation of somewhat poor infrastructure I also live in a state that is ranked nearly last. Oklahoma roads would probably make a Singaporean feel like he or she was on Mars or something. I always say last international vacation I was on I went to three third world countries and their roads were much better than ours (although not nearly as many roads).

All of this leads to that other form of transportation and in all of my internet study I really haven't come across any reference to it much at all regarding SG which is really strange (maybe I am just not looking in the right places)...what about boats? Is it cheaper to own a boat?

And thank you gentlemen for sharing your thoughts. :)
 

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...what about boats? Is it cheaper to own a boat?


LOL... Definitely NOT !!

1st off... we are a small island nation... we are surrounded by our bigger neighbors on the north (Malaysia) and bigger neighbor on the south (Indonesia)... there is no much place to go around SG's waters in a boat/yatch... beside, piracy beyond SG waters is infamous among the merchant navy...

2nd... there is not alot of 'cheap' place where one could berth or archor a boat/yatch/ship... you'll have to belong to some 'yatch' club or marina club... membership that would cost tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars...
 

It is cheaper to have some good shoes and use public transport. It has its occasional hiccups and outages but works well overall. Public transport is a good way to observe and study the people here.
 

I used to drive for many years (30 years++), and used to ride too, but I prefer to take public transport nowadays. COE, PARF, ERP, season parking tickets, parking couples, traffic fines, summons, insurance, vehicle inspection, road tax etc are non of my business now.
crazy drivers, stupid drives, doesn't bother me much, since I no longer driving.
I still can read books, texting, surf net, play games, watching people or even sleep while communing. You can't do these when you are behind the wheel.

the condition of our roads and bridges, can consider A++, hardly see any pot holes around for many years.
 

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btw, if you want to see how is the condition of Singapore roads, can go Google Map and drop the little yellow man on any places you want to see. :)
 

There are some folks who have uploaded videos of exactly that, driving around in singapore.

[video=youtube;98t-yh4MC6Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98t-yh4MC6Y[/video]
 

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[video=youtube;de_5tP6CImI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de_5tP6CImI[/video]
 

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Do any of you bros ever just cruise around in your cars? Joyride?

Do most of you on this board have cars?

Most of us cruse around with MRT in Singapore.

Safest and most enjoyable way to travel.

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Seems an innocent enough question.

What is the fastest you can go? Are there stupid people everywhere? What is the condition of your roads and highways and bridges?

Our roads are nowhere compared to US

I really enjoyed my driving in the US (California). Roads are really wide. Interstates are long and can be scenic at times.

In SG, our roads are narrow (due to lack of space). Car parks are really small, unlike in the US. Most of our car parks are in multi storeys or basements. Hardly any open surface car park (again due to lack of space).

Our highways are considered tiny compared to US Interstates. Lanes are narrower. From east to west, only about 45km on highway. And u will drop off into the sea if u dont stop. Lol

Being a small country, our roads are well connected and organised. Hardly can get lost. If u miss a turn or something, can easily make a u turn or turn around and u are on the right track.

And we have plenty of trees on both sides of road or highways as u drive. Provide lots of shades.

But we have the most expensive prices for cars in the universe. Google for it and u will understand the system. It's meant to control car population and prevent traffic jams.