Local musician Donnie Chan took to Facebook to complain about a foreigner who damaged his side mirror, who did not do anything to make up for it. Mr. Chan appealed to netizens for help and legal advice regarding compensation.
At 7:30 pm on July 6, Mr. Chan posted the following on Facebook, along with a video and some photos of the incident.
“Ang Moh cause damage to my car side mirror by hitting it hard, unhappy that my car did not give way for him to cross the road… the road is not even a zebra crossing at the first place. (The rest of the pedestrians stopped when my car was approaching, except him) When confronted he turned and walk back towards me but immediately shy away when saw my phone snapping photo at him.
Legally experienced friends, am I legible to a compensation for damage caused to private property?”
The dash cam video shows Mr. Chan driving along on July 6, at 5:47pm. He approaches an intersection where people are crossing. There are no broad white stripes on the road (zebra crossing) that oblige drivers to stop to allow pedestrians to pass in front of them.
As Mr. Chan points out, another pedestrian at the scene made way for his vehicle, but the foreigner seemed to fail to do so. You can hear a dull thud as something hits the side of the car, and Mr. Chan immediately stops, rolls down the window and says, “Excuse me?”
Netizen friends of Mr. Chan told him in the comments that while he can file a police report and hire a lawyer to file a suit against the man, the cost of the lawyer would be bigger than the repair of the damages to his mirror.
The commenter also told him that based on dash cam footage, it was hard to determine that the foreigner really caused the damage, and his best recourse may just be to spread the video on social media
Others told him that the legal process may not be worth it in the end
Others maintained it would have been better for Mr. Chan to have practiced courtesy and just let the pedestrians pass.