It’s been more than 2 years after this accident. Now that the verdict has been reached, I could freely talk about this.

First of all, I had wasted a fair bit of time on this, having to turn up at a lawyer’s office to sign an affidavit, and later to attend a court session. This is in spite of the photo evidence we have presented, and I was told the other driver insists that my friend was solely at fault, and he wants to claim against the insurance company covering my friend’s car insurance (NTUC Income in this case) 50% of his repair bill.

His bill was a hefty $10,000 and that means he was trying to claim $5,000. It was shocking to us because it cost my friend less than $2,000 of that to repair his own vehicle which spares are more difficult to obtain. That’s not mentioning, another friend who completely wrecked his Subaru WRX STi when travelling in Malaysia only had to pay $8,500 to restore it to tip top conditions if he so wishes. The front of the WRX was completely ruined, and a large branch fell from a tree to crush the top of the vehicle after the collision. Now compared that kind of damage to the Toyota Altris at fault! (See photos shown on my other blog post.)

The fact that it took long enough for such a minor matter to be resolved certainly reinforce my bad impression of NTUC Income, which reminded me of the acronym – No Trouble Until Claims. In fact, when we were having coffee after the court session, my friend informed me that the insurer didn’t give the photo evidence to the lawyer which represented us in this case until September last year. That is in spite of the fact that the photos were submitted the next day, and my friend was given the assurance that the case was very clear cut and not disputable. Contrary to what he was told, the entire case dragged on until a hearing became necessary. I do not know what discussions and agreements were made between the lawyers, but in the end it was agreed upon that it should be resolved at the Primary Dispute Resolution Centre (PDRC) in the Subordinate Courts.

Thus, we were ‘summoned’ before a judge a few days ago to whom both sides will present their case. It was to my disgust when I discovered that the other driver gave a completely different account – one that in my opinion defied the laws of physics and a load of blatant lies. It was quite interesting to see how the other lawyer tried to ‘grill’ us in defense of his client, even presenting an utterly ridiculous scenario. In this scenario, the accident was a result of ‘bad handling’ in which the fault solely lies with my friend. He suggested that our vehicle has hit the central divider first, and the deflection then caused us to hit his client’s vehicle. He also repeatedly rephrased his questions in his attempt to get my friend to admit that it was his fault.

Fortunately for us, it seems the judge found the photo evidence to be more credible, and she has asked the other driver on several occasions to explain the photo evidence and why it differs from his account. At one point when the other driver was talking out of point she told the interpreter to remind him to look at the photos and explain again how that tallies with his account of the event. To me that was quite a relief, as it was quite clear who the judge has found more credible. It was rather difficult for us to keep ourselves from wanting to interject, though we refrain from doing so as we do not wish to offend the judge.

After a gruesome 40 minutes or so, the judge asked for us to leave the room and the lawyers to stay behind. In the end she told the lawyers that the photo evidence was more credible in describing the event, and told the lawyers that the matter should be settled 80 – 20, in our favor. It was an acceptable outcome, even though we would prefer that the other driver gets nothing and be made to bear 100% of all his repair cost. After all, that fellow has not only failed to be responsible for his mistake, he has lied thorough his teeth to take advantage of the insurance claims.

Either way I hope this would be the final conclusion to the matter since I do not want to waste more time on this matter. However, as a result of this experience, I would like to point out several things.

Firstly, it is not good enough to have photos of the final resting position of the vehicles in the accident. It is also necessary to show clearly in the photos the lane markings, especially when the other driver is at fault. Thus, have a photo further away showing the road in front and behind the vehicle. Preferably, these photos should capture any u-turns, arrows indicating the direction of travel, traffic lights, speed camera, ERP gantry etc. All of these will help when there is a dispute on who has the right of way. It also gives an indication of the traffic condition at that point of time, i.e. clear or congested. Also, take photos of any brake marks on the road, since the speed of the vehicles is also taken into account. Beyond that, take photos of the damage of not only your vehicle, but also that of the other vehicle so you will not be caught by surprise when you are shown the damages and presented an entirely different account of the events.

Beyond that, allow no one from either vehicles to leave the scene. Friends or relatives or not, these people are witnesses. Take special note when ‘helpful people’ who are not involved showed up to give suggestions where to take both vehicles for repair. Ask whether these people are related to the other driver since these people are choosing to get involved. My personal opinion is that these might just be people from shady workshops nearby who are trying to pull a fast one.

It is most likely these people will not want their presence to be noted down down in the statement. In my opinion, if the other driver is adamant that nothing like this had happened that may work to his disadvantage since he appears to be covering up the details. If the passenger is assisting the driver to take photos, it would be best if the photos capture some of these people in negotiation with the driver.

Lastly, take note of who the other party has called, especially if you are asked to speak with someone on the phone and told to take the vehicles to their workshop for evaluation. Get hold of the number called if possible but if that information is not available, at the very least that should be mentioned in your statement. Both of us got some a little chewing out from the lawyer previously when he questioned us about our statements and found that we failed to put these details in.

Basically, the more details and visual evidence in support of your statement of the event, the less room there is for the other guy to worm himself out of his fault and waste the collective time of everyone – lawyers, the judge, the insurance company, and yourself. There is entirely no reason to waste so much time on a minor accident especially when the other person is at fault.

~~~ * ~~~

And talking about such accidents… it was to my dismay that on April 23 I was again involved as a witness in another one on Keppel Road around 10am in the morning. I was in a cab on the center lane of the 3-laned Keppel Road somewhere next to the KTM Station at Tanjong Pagar. The cab was straight and stationary in its lane, waiting for the traffic light to turn green when I heard a loud bang. I didn’t even realise the cab I was in was hit until the taxi driver turned his cab towards the KTM station. It was then I noticed that the left mirror twisted in an odd angle and the culprit: a white van (with hazard lights on) at the drop off area in the KTM station.

How that idiot van driver hit us with a glancing hit was beyond me. I was too shocked to react and it was over within a few minutes after the 2 drivers exchanged particulars. By the time I got off the cab and look at the damage at the destination at Anson Road, I realised that there was a big dent on the side of the cab and the left head light assembly and that side of the bumper was totally wrecked.

But here’s the good news, I will be taking the MRT for some time…

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