Car Accident

Here is one car accident photo that I forgot to post in my previous entry “When It Rains, It Pours“.

I shot this with my Sony Ericsson W710i camera phone on the morning of our flight to Geneva. This one’s pretty scary, as you can see how badly mangled up the car is. Notice the broken portion of the divider on the lower right hand side of the photo. That area must have taken the full impact of the collision.

I’m not sure who the guy is, hence I’ve pixelised his face.

One thing I notice about road accidents in Malaysia is the almost instantaneous presence of people offering to tow your car to their workshop. It’s almost freaky how they just happen to be in that place at that time almost all the time.

Word of caution: If you do get an accident in Malaysia, stay calm and do NOT — I repeat, do NOT — entertain those instant offers to get your car towed to their workshop. More often than not, they’ll charge you exorbitantly for the towing and/or the repair once your car is stuck in their workshop.

So what do you do if you get involved in a car accident in Malaysia? Try to stay calm enough to do the following:-

• Get the car plate number of the other car(s).
• Exchange phone numbers with the other driver(s).
• Take note of the time, date and your exact location, especially the street name (necessary information for your police report),
• Call your usual workshop or check your car’s service manual for the address and telephone number of the nearest authorised workshop of your car, e.g. for a Toyota car, call up the nearest Toyota Service Centre.
• Take photos of the scene of the accident with your camera phone, if you have one.
• If you intend to file a claim from your insurance company, be prepared to file a police report within 24 hours of the occurrence of the accident. Take note that not all police stations handle car accident reports. For instance, if the accident takes place within KL area, you must go to the police station in Jalan Bandar, near Petaling Street a.k.a. Chinatown. However, if the accident occurred outside KL, and no policeman arrives at the scene of the accident, go to the nearest police station and ask them where you should file your police report…because I don’t know which police station to go to, that’s why :P Be prepared to bring your passport (if you’re a foreigner) or IC (if you’re Malaysian) when you file the report.
• If the damage is too little to involve the insurance company (e.g. small scratches), get the thing settled quickly on who pays who. And get it settled in cash quickly, preferably before 24 hours is past so that, if the other person doesn’t pay up, you still have time to go and file a police report. As far as I know, if the car behind you hits you for whatever reason at all, they’re automatically at fault and they must pay you. If you’re the one who hits the car in front of you, hard luck lah! :D

And one last thing — accidents in Malaysia, no matter how minor, always cause a major traffic jam. It’s not so much because the car(s) involved in the accident is/are obstructing traffic. Rather, it’s because everyone slows down to take a look.

I once thought Filipinos were a curious lot. I remember hearing about uzi-seros — a play on the word usyusero (busybody) — the term coined at that time for innocent bystanders who got shot by stray bullets during one coup d’etat when I was in Ateneo in the early 90’s. Then I got to Malaysia, where people on the other side of the road (across the actual scene of the accident) actually stop and park their cars on the road shoulder just to get a better look at the accident. I’d have to say that the Malaysians win hands-down when it comes to curiousity!

<<Quick update: For accidents in Petaling Jaya a.k.a. PJ, a very reliable source told me that you should go to the police station at Menara MPPJ in PJ Old Town. 29-Jul-08>>