Motormouth: Road hoggers drive me up the wall in Singapore

Drivers who drive too slowly in the fast lane really irritate this fellow driver.

[Story by guest columnist Tan Ah Lin]

Beware, it’s a jungle out there. Not the Mandai Zoo kind with crawling lizards, but the Lion City road zoo where crawling hoggers lurk.

Road hoggers are drivers who drive so slowly that you would think they had their cruise control set at 60km/h - on a highway with a speed limit of 80km/h. They have a long tail of cars behind them, like a bo chup mother duck with a following of innocent little ducklings. 

It is perfectly all right for these folks to drive slowly, as long as they steer clear of the outer/faster lanes. By hogging said lanes without knowing/caring about other road users who are trying to use the expressway as intended, these inconsiderate drivers not only cause unnecessary frustration but also disrupt the traffic flow.

I noticed there tends to be more hoggers on the roads in the evenings around dinnertime. Maybe it’s a bodily after-effect of a satisfying meal, or maybe these well-fed jokers feel the need to relax and take a slow drive to aid their digestion. 

No problem, but please move over to the inner/slower lanes and let the yet-unfed drivers through to their dinner destinations.

Then there are the goods vehicles which seem to perpetually occupy the centre or even outermost lanes, and not because they are in the process of overtaking even slower vehicles.

Maybe it has something to do with the abolition of the ubiquitous blinking speed-warning light on the cabin roof of every truck, pickup and van, like an orange star atop a 12-month Christmas tree.  

Or maybe it’s the introduction of more powerful variants to the goods-vehicle segment, some of which are turbocharged, torquey and therefore pretty quick from delivery point to delivery point. 

Strangely enough, certain hoggers are actually speedsters in disguise, or perhaps speedsters taking some time off from their need for speed.

Because whenever I try to overtake them, from the left if strictly necessary, some would allow me to complete my manoevure and then they immediately tailgate on my rear bumper, while others simply accelerate to prevent me from overtaking, before reverting to their road-hog habit when the coast is clear again. 

The coast is clear for road hogs to drive this driver up the wall.

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