All vehicles need a good car wash every now and then to get rid of the dirt and dust amassed while travelling on the road.
While most of us have to go out of our way to make that happen, motorists travelling along the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) on Tuesday (7 Sep), received a surprise ‘car wash’ for free instead.
Turns out, the sprinkler system accidentally set off along a section of the underground expressway, even though there was no fire there.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is currently investigating the cause behind the ‘free car wash’.
Videos circulating on social media show a foggy scene inside the MCE tunnel that certainly reminded us of the movie ‘The Mist’.
It also bore a resemblance to the torrential rain that we’ve seen over the past weeks.
On closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the veil of water was coming from sprinklers on the tunnel’s ceiling.
A clip from inside a vehicle showed it driving under the sprinklers, though it looked as though it was passing through a hurricane.
According to The Straits Times (ST), the MCE sprinklers had set off on Tuesday (7 Sep) afternoon at around 12.55pm. This occurred near the Fort Road exit which leads to the eastbound East Coast Parkway (ECP).
Though the sprinklers were activated, LTA said there were reportedly no fires within the tunnel.
The authorities switched off the system just 5 minutes later at about 1pm.
LTA is currently investigating the cause of the unusual incident.
This isn’t the first time that sprinklers along the MCE were activated for strange reasons.
In March 2019, a technical fault led to sprinklers along a 25-metre stretch in the MCE being activated.
2 years before that, sprinklers near the Fort Road Exit had turned on by accident, despite there being no fire in the tunnel.
A similar accident had also happened in 2015.
Considering the biannual occurrence, perhaps we can expect a similar event in 2023.
Though the sprinkler error has not caused any serious accidents thus far, we’re sure it has created some inconvenience for road users.
Especially with the frequency of such incidents, we hope the authorities will conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons behind these unusual events and will prevent similar occurrences in the future.
That aside, congrats to the lucky drivers who got a complimentary car wash, saving them the physical workout of cleaning their cars.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from TikTok.
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