SBS Transit has lodged a police report after a viral video appeared to show a man taping a mobile phone to the rear of a public bus before following it on a motorcycle. The man later disputed what the footage appeared to show.
SINGAPORE — A social-media stunt involving an SBS Transit double-decker bus, a taped-up mobile phone and a motorcycle has triggered a police report and a wave of online criticism over road and public-safety concerns.
The incident came to light after a video circulated on social media showing a man apparently attaching a mobile phone to the rear of an SBS Transit bus with yellow tape before returning to his motorcycle and riding behind the vehicle.
SBS Transit said it takes the matter seriously and has lodged a police report.
“We take a very serious view of this incident, which we do not condone, as it may put the safety of the individual and other road users at risk,” SBS Transit spokesperson Grace Wu told AsiaOne.
The incident is believed to have happened around Jalan Besar, with the video appearing to show the man riding behind the bus toward the Bencoolen Street area. 8world reported that the bus was followed for at least about 200 metres in the footage.
The video that sparked the controversy
The footage was posted on social media over the weekend.
In the video, the man, dressed in a black sweater, approaches the rear of an SBS Transit double-decker bus while it is stopped. He appears to use yellow tape to attach a phone to the back of the vehicle.
The video then cuts to footage of the man riding a motorcycle behind the bus.
The original post suggested that the stunt was part of a social-media trend, with a caption questioning whether any law had been broken.
The footage quickly attracted attention online, with viewers questioning whether attaching a device to a public bus — and subsequently riding behind it — could endanger the man, the bus driver, passengers or other road users.
AsiaOne reported that the video had accumulated more than 86,000 views and 1,300 likes by Monday evening. 8world subsequently reported that the Instagram version had reached at least 150,000 views by Monday night.
But the man later offered a different explanation
As criticism grew, the man appeared to respond on social media.
According to 8world, he later claimed that the phone shown being attached to the bus was not actually used to record the motorcycle footage.
He said the footage of him riding behind the bus was instead recorded by a small camera mounted on another motorcycle.
That distinction matters because it leaves an important question unresolved: whether the apparent phone-on-bus setup was actually used to capture the footage shown in the video.
8world also reported that the man claimed the recording took place at around 7am and said he had not broken the law.
At the time of reporting, there had been no public confirmation that the man’s explanation had been independently verified.
For that reason, it would be premature to state as fact that the phone attached to the bus was used to record the motorcycle footage.
SBS Transit says safety is the issue
Regardless of how the footage was ultimately recorded, SBS Transit has made clear that it regards the apparent conduct as a serious safety matter.
The operator said it does not condone behaviour that could place the individual or other road users at risk and confirmed that a police report had been filed.
The response comes amid a series of incidents this year involving SBS Transit buses and members of the public.
In January, the operator filed a police report after a car was allegedly seen driving slowly in front of a Service 51 bus and repeatedly braking while occupying the bus lane along Geylang Road.
SBS Transit said the behaviour posed a potential safety risk, particularly to bus commuters. Police confirmed that a report had been lodged and said they were looking into the matter.
Another SBS Transit incident also ended with a police report
In September, SBS Transit lodged another police report after a boy was filmed throwing a bag towards the tracks at Cove LRT station.
The operator described that incident as a matter of public safety and said it was looking into the circumstances.
Police confirmed that a report had been lodged and investigations were ongoing.
READ MORE: Boy Filmed Throwing Bag Toward Tracks at Cove LRT Station, Police Investigate
The latest bus incident therefore comes against a broader backdrop of transport operators responding more firmly to behaviour that could affect public safety.
Singapore is also tightening its focus on bus safety
The issue is particularly significant because Singapore has been stepping up efforts to improve safety across its public transport system.
The Land Transport Authority said in August that 99 per cent of bus captains had completed a “Bus Captain Drive Safe” refresher programme as of July 2026, with all bus captains expected to complete it by October.
LTA also said it had completed trials of an AI-powered video analytics system using existing cameras on buses. The technology can detect situations including motorists encroaching into bus lanes and illegal parking, as well as certain road-infrastructure defects.
That makes incidents involving unusual behaviour around buses particularly relevant: public buses operate in crowded environments where even a seemingly minor distraction or obstruction can potentially affect multiple road users.
SBS Transit is already using AI to improve bus operations
SBS Transit has also been experimenting with artificial intelligence to address a different problem — bus bunching and irregular arrival times.
The operator has been trialling an AI-powered decision-support system called FlowOS, which analyses live bus operations and alerts service controllers to developing delays or bunching.
The system is being tested on Services 70 and 145, with expansion to additional routes planned.
READ MORE: SBS Transit Turns to AI to Tackle Bus Bunching and Delays Across Singapore
Why the stunt has raised safety questions
A public bus is not simply another vehicle on the road.
It carries passengers, operates on scheduled routes and has to respond to changing traffic conditions. A person attaching an object to the vehicle or following unusually closely could potentially create hazards even if the intention is simply to make a short video.
The concern is therefore broader than whether the stunt generated views.
It is about whether creating social-media content around a moving public transport vehicle could introduce unnecessary risks to people who were not involved in the filming.
That is also why SBS Transit has framed the issue around safety rather than simply the popularity of the video.
The incident comes after other recent bus-related safety cases
Singapore has seen several high-profile public-transport incidents in 2026.
In September, a car rear-ended an SBS Transit Service 56 bus in the Rochor area while passengers were boarding and alighting. A 31-year-old driver was arrested for suspected drug-impaired driving, and a vaporiser was also seized, with several people assessed or taken to hospital.
READ MORE: Car Rear-Ends Bus in Singapore, Driver Arrested for Suspected Drug-Driving; Vape Seized
More recently, on Nov. 2, an SBS Transit bus crashed through a central divider along Jalan Kayu. Police said the bus was believed to have self-skidded, while one person was assessed for minor injuries. The 65-year-old bus driver was assisting with investigations.
These incidents are unrelated to the viral phone video, but together they underscore why transport operators remain highly sensitive to conduct that could affect road safety.
Was any law actually broken?
That question remains more complicated than the social-media comments suggest.
The fact that SBS Transit has lodged a police report does not itself establish that an offence was committed.
Oriental Daily, citing lawyer Huang Guoyan, reported that the legal position could depend on what can actually be established about the man’s conduct. The lawyer discussed possible offences relating to public nuisance and damage to property, but also noted the difficulty of determining exactly what happened from the available footage.
That is an important distinction.
A police report means authorities have been alerted and can assess whether any offence occurred. It is not the same as a finding of guilt.
The man’s later explanation also means investigators may need to establish what actually happened rather than relying solely on the edited social-media video.
The bigger lesson for Singapore’s viral-video culture
The incident highlights an increasingly familiar tension in the social-media era.
A stunt that takes only a few seconds to film can involve vehicles, roads and members of the public who never agreed to participate.
And once a video goes viral, the consequences can extend far beyond the creator’s original intention.
For now, the key facts remain straightforward:
- A video appeared to show a man attaching a phone to the rear of an SBS Transit bus.
- He was then shown riding a motorcycle behind the bus.
- The incident was believed to have taken place around Jalan Besar.
- SBS Transit said it does not condone the behaviour and lodged a police report.
- The man later claimed the motorcycle footage was actually filmed by a camera mounted on another motorcycle.
- Authorities have not publicly announced a finding that the man committed an offence.
Until investigations establish what actually happened, the viral footage should be treated as an allegation and not proof of criminal wrongdoing.
But one thing is already clear: what started as a social-media stunt has now become a matter for the police.
