S’pore family’s car damaged after M’sian driver misjudges turning in Johor hotel near Woodlands Checkpoint
What was supposed to be a weekend trip across the Causeway turned into a nightmare for one Singaporean family after their car was involved in a chain collision early Saturday (08 June) morning.
A Malaysian driver lost control of his vehicle while trying to exit the multi-storey carpark of the hotel they were staying in, causing an adjacent vehicle to slam into the Singapore-registered car.
Car was parked in JB hotel’s carpark shared with lifestyle complex
Speaking to MS News, the driver, who chose to remain anonymous, said he arrived at the Suasana Suites hotel carpark, with another Singaporean family, at around 10.45pm on 7 June.
They then parked their vehicles for the night.
The carpark is also used by patrons of the restaurants and nightlife entertainment joints of the Zenith Lifestyle Centre — which is located within the same development as Suasana and two other hotels.
The next morning, the 35-year-old senior HR professional discovered that the Malaysian-registered Toyota next to his Mitsubishi Attrage had been knocked out of its lot and was lodged against his car.
Source: MS News reader
The Malaysian car also suffered visible damages to its right side, with the area near its front right wheel caved in.
CCTV of Johor hotel showed accident caused by speeding driver
Upon noticing the Singaporeans at the cars, a carpark attendant approached them and informed them that a Malaysian-registered car had lost control while coming down a nearby ramp and slammed into both vehicles earlier that morning.
The impact caused the car’s airbags to deploy.
Source: MS News reader
The CCTV footage captures the scene when the Malaysian driver misjudges the turn and smashes into the parked Toyota — which then slams against the Singaporean’s vehicle.
The carpark attendant added that they refused to let the driver leave and only did so after obtaining his personal details — including a picture of his identification card.
He added that the driver appeared to be intoxicated.
Source: MS News reader
They later shared the information, along with the details of the other affected Malaysian driver, with the Singaporeans and advised them to make a police report nearby.
The Singaporean driver contacted his insurer’s emergency hotline to seek an extension to lodge the report with an authorised workshop beyond the 24-hour deadline.
Made police report in JB but claim process tedious
The Singaporeans were later re-directed to a dedicated traffic police post to make a traffic accident report before being told to return the next day if they wanted to “purchase” the authorised hard copy of their report.
According to the Singaporean driver, the entire process is expected to take between six months and a year before any claims can be settled since the culprit is Malaysian.
Both families left Malaysia on Sunday morning and upon returning, he got started on the paperwork for his insurance claims.
He also had to find a workshop with a track record of dealing with accident claims involving Malaysian vehicles.
Source: MS News reader
Still, he said things could have been worse. “We were lucky that the damages were minimal enough for the car to still be road-worthy, and we were able to drive back safely,” he said.
He added that the incident has taught him to be extra aware when parking and to avoid in areas that are “exposed to risk by errant or incompetent drivers”.
MS News has reached out to Suasana Suites for more details.
Also read: M’sian driver swerves & crashes while trying to avoid S’pore-registered car in Johor
M’sian driver swerves & crashes while trying to avoid S’pore-registered car in Johor
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Featured image courtesy of MS News reader.
