I AM prompted to write after reading a report with the heading “Accident victim: He knew he could get away with it, so why bother paying us?” published on Aug 11. Two examples of collision cases were given, but I do not concur with the reported statements made by accident victims.
The first involved a 19-year-old who crashed his motorcycle into a car parked by the roadside without any traffic cones or signage. He ended up breaking four bones in his leg, and paid RM300 to repair his motorbike, as the motor insurance covered only about 60% of the cost.
His mother forked out thousands of ringgit for her son’s recovery and said “His hospital bill came up to almost RM400. Thankfully, it was a government hospital, but I had to pay for his milk and supplements. I also had to spend on travel expenses from our home in Sunway to Sungai Buloh.”
She said it wasn’t just him who suffered as she, too, had to sacrifice by taking leave from work to send him for physiotherapy.
To rub salt in their wound, the car owner got away with just a slap on the wrist – a RM300 fine.
“He didn’t say or do anything for my son. He knew he could get away with just a summons, so why bother paying us for our troubles?” his mother had lamented.
The second accident involved a senior citizen. He was reported to have said that he had just had the car for three months when the incident happened early last year.
“After hitting my car, the man tried to conceal his road tax, and when he came over, I could smell alcohol,” he recounted.
“I told him my car was brand new and I wanted to lodge a police report so I could claim from his insurance to repair the damage. He said yes, you can go ahead, but he never turned up at the police station.”
Upon learning that the man had no insurance, the senior citizen felt demotivated and as nothing could be done, he had to use his own insurance instead, losing his no-claim bonus in the process.
The report ended with the senior citizen stating that law enforcement procedures need a review and frequent operations must be conducted to weed out such drivers.
However, I find both stories are full of holes. In the first case, the car was stationary at the roadside, either the car was parked there illegally or had stalled earlier. The driver may have caused it, but it would be the fault of others crashing their vehicles or motorcycles into it.
Let us assume this case was the fault of the driver who left the car by the roadside and the car has no motor insurance.
A civil suit can still be filed against the owner/driver who will be liable to pay the amount of compensation awarded by the court, or could eventually end up as a bankrupt.
If the amount is around RM40,000, there is a good chance for the owner/driver to pay up, but unlikely if it is RM400,000 or RM4 mil. The lawyers who said nothing could be done because the car had no insurance were wrong, as they were only after the insurance company’s payment.
In the second case, the senior citizen could have easily made a claim under ‘own damage knock-for knock’ (OD-KFK) without losing the no-claim discount if he was not at fault. It is a straightforward matter without complication if handled by a reputable or panel workshop.
I made several such claims before by submitting a copy of the full police report to the workshop and just waited until repairs were completed in a few days.
I did not bother to find out the cost of repairs, as I had nothing to gain or lose, except when claiming loss of use for the car.
Third-party claims are normally made by owners whose vehicles are not insured under comprehensive cover. The process is costly and tedious. If successful, the amount offered by the insurance company will be disappointingly low.
And it is certainly not true the road accident will be a “No Further Action” (NFA) case if the other driver did not make a police report.
After the grace period is over, the Investigating Officer (IO) would have a notice sent to the registered owner to meet him at the police station. ‒ Aug 13, 2025
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image: Bernama
