By: Kheng-Liang Tan
A car dashcam video which went viral this morning has raised the question on whether Malaysian vehicles entering Singapore have adequate insurance coverage.
First posted on the Beh Chia Lor – Singapore Road, the video has since been shared more than 550 times with 30,000 views in the span of 9 hours.
In the video, a Malaysian-registerd Nissan was seen making an abrupt lane switch just before the ERP gantry along Geylang Road. As a result of this suddeness, the Nissan collided with a Singaporean-registered BMW.
In the post, several users have raised questions on whether the policies in Sinapore has adequately protected Singaporean drivers from accidents with Malaysian-registered vehicles, some suggesting mandatory day insurance passes.
One Ds Ds said that the process of making an insurance claim would be “very hard [as] that JB car must make a police report in singapore [and] the victim must obtain a copy too. [This is to be] followed by a workshop that specalises in [both] Malaysia and Singapore insurance claim.”
Another Martin Low said that he has been involved in an accident with a Malaysia car before and could not claim from the other party’s insurance. To make matters worse, he bemoaned that he had spent more than “a hundred” on documentation.
Joseph James echoed both the earlier views, saying the accident was “Jia lak.. [and the victim] must engage a lawyer to claims. Chances get money back…wait long long..also don’t have.”
A few users have personally witnessed numerous Malaysian cars driving recklessly as they are not familiar with Singaporean roads. A Malaysan NGO estimated 600,000 Malaysians cross the causeway daily, many on motorbikes to work in manual jobs.
Do you think day insurance is necessary? What would have happened if the car had crashed into a pedestrian instead?