Often, hopeful punters would say that they are more likely to get first place in the lottery than they would get struck by lightning.
If that saying is remotely true, this driver must be extremely lucky to evade the latter scenario on Tuesday (16 Aug).
While driving along Upper Thomson, lightning apparently struck a nearby tree, causing branches to fall on the bonnet of his car.
The driver counted his lucky stars, saying that the branches would’ve smashed his windscreen had he passed by at any other moment.
Instead, he only has to deal with considerable dents around his vehicle. Painful nonetheless.
On Tuesday (16 Aug), TikTok user Joel posted a video of his fortuitous brush with Mother Nature along Tagore Road in Upper Thomson.
His caption to the 10-second clip read, “I recently made a joke about why trees always get struck by lightning. Because they suay. But now is it I suay?”
The clip combines images of his dented BMW, the fallen tree branches and dashcam footage.
The pictures show the BMW’s hood and doors dented from the impact of the fallen branches.
Source: @joelcwh on TikTok
While the video showed broken tree branches hitting the BMW on the move, photos of the aftermath revealed more severe damage to the tree as a result of the lightning strike.
Source: @joelcwh on TikTok
The lightning had apparently caused a significant portion of the tree to fall off, sending much larger and probably heavier branches tumbling to the ground.
Watching the dashcam footage closely, viewers could easily spot the lightning bolt striking the tree in a flash, briefly leaving a smoking trail in its wake.
Source: @joelcwh on TikTok
A large chunk of the tree’s bark flew toward the BMW, landing on its hood.
Had the car been further ahead at that moment, Joel estimated that the debris could have impaled its windscreen.
Perhaps aware of the extremely close shave, Joel said he’d start counting his blessings after a netizen pointed out that the whole tree could’ve collapsed.
Source: TikTok
To pay for the damages, he shared that he’ll be claiming insurance under the “Own Damage (OD)” category and cover any excess himself.
Source: TikTok
But Joel predicts that his premium will likely increase thereafter.
Thankfully, Joel seemed to have walked away from the incident relatively harm-free.
Hopefully, his insurance claiming process will go smoothly and his car will be good as new after some repairs.
We also hope that Joel and all other road users out there won’t have to experience such close brushes in the future.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from @joelcwh on TikTok.
The kitten will be put up for adoption after its injuries are cured.
The toasts were barely a few centimetres thick.
The boy was trapped inside the lift for over half an hour before being rescued.
The man is known to be a frequent troublemaker.
A total of 13,099 travellers were fined.
He confessed to local police that he ate the dogs.