TEEN ARRESTED FOR DRIVING WITHOUT LICENCE
Car owner asks: Now, after this accident... WHO WILL BUY MY CAR?
By Genevieve Jiang
December 12, 2007
HE had been about to sell his two-year old Subaru Legacy and had already received a $5,000 deposit from a potential buyer.
To make sure his car was in good condition for the sale, Mr Raymond Png sent it for polishing and vacuuming.
But instead of getting his car spruced up, the29-year-old restaurant owner ended up witha damaged car that he is now afraid cannot besold.
He had left his vehicle with polishing company Car International at Suntec City yesterday.
At 2.40pm, while it was being driven around the shopping centre's carpark, it crashed into two parked cars.
A staff member of Car International, who gave his name as Mr Lee and his age as 46, told both Mr Png and this reporter that he had been driving the car when he lost control and had the accident.
However, when the police arrived, they discovered that the driver was actually a 17-year-old worker who did not have a driving licence.
Under the Road Traffic Act, one must be at least 18 years old to hold a driving licence.
A police spokesman later confirmed that 'an Indian youth in his late teens was arrested yesterday for driving without a licence' in relation to the accident.
Mr Png's car after the accident yesterday afternoon. He says he was just about to sell his car. -- Pictures: FRANCIS LEE
Mr Png, who owns the Swiss Culture restaurant at Suntec City, told The New Paper: 'This is just terribly bad timing. I was just about to sell my car. The buyer had already paid me the deposit last week.
'I paid more than $114,000 for the car twoyears ago and was hoping to sell it for a good price of $86,000.
'Now, with this accident, I don't think any buyer will want my car anymore.'
Mr Png had also put down a $3,000 deposit for a second-hand $130,000 BMW323.
MAY SCRAP IT
He said that if he cannot sell his car, he would have to scrap it. He estimates he would end up $20,000 to $30,000 short of what he would have got from a sale.
'I don't know what to do right now. I just hope the polishing company will take responsibility and compensate me accordingly.'
As the car was being driven by someone without a licence at the time of the accident, MrPng would also have trouble making an insurance claim, say insurance agents here. (See other report.)
Mr Png said he had left his car yesterday morning with Car International at the basement carpark of Suntec City.
Around 2.45pm, he received a call telling him that his car was involved in an accident.
The black Lancer and the Altis that were damaged in the accident yesterday.
He rushed to the carpark and found that his car had rammed into two parked cars.
The cars - a Mitsubishi Lancer and a Toyota Altis - were badly damaged.
Soon after, Mr Lee 'admitted' to being the driver.
He told The New Paper he had driven MrPng's car to another part of the carpark for vacuuming because their vacuum cleaner was faulty.
He claimed that after vacuuming the car, he was driving back to the original spot when he lost control of the car and collided into the two parked cars.
Said Mr Lee: 'It was raining and the carpark floor was wet and slippery. I'm also not familiar with the car, and as I was making a left turn, I accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.
'That's when I panicked and the car skidded.'
Mr Lee, who said he has been with Car International for almost 20years, claimed that he wasn't speeding and did not suffer any injuries.
Mr Png said he had been told a similar story by MrLee.
However, when the police arrived and probed further, staff members confessed that the car had been driven by a teenage boy without alicence.
It is not known why he had been driving thecar.
Mr Png said he was disappointed because of the good relationship he has had with the staff of the polishing company.
'I've been their regular customer for the past five years. I'm disappointed because they betrayed my trust and then lied about what happened. But what's done is done. At least no one got hurt.'
The owners of the two others cars were alsoshocked.
The Lancer owner, Mr Tng Poh Chuan, 33, a businessman, was horrified to find his three-year-old car damaged when he returned from lunch.
'I went to Suntec City to have lunch with my wife and when I went back to my car, I was taken aback,' he said.
'The damage is so bad that I think it's beyond repair. I will probably have to scrap it and buy a new car.'
The Altis driver, Mr Yeo Siak Woo, 48, was walking with his colleagues back to the car when the accident happened.
The car belongs to his company.
Said Mr Yeo, who works in a telecommunications company: 'We saw a black Subaru turning the corner. Then, we heard the screeching of wheels and a loud bang.
'We were about 20m away at the time. A piece of plastic flew and hit me on the leg.'
Mr Yeo had a minor cut on his right calf and was sent to the Singapore General Hospital for treatment.
The police spokesman said they are investigating the accident.
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How to get money back?
THE best way for MrRaymond Png to get some money back is to take legal action against the car polishing company, say practitioners in the insurance and motor industry.
Mr Mike Low, 30, owner of an automobile workshop, said that insurance would not cover the damage as the driver did not have a licence.
Said Mr Low: 'If Mr Png were to make a claim from his own insurance company, they may compensate him but it may affect his NoClaim Discount (NCD).
'It will be hard to claim from the car polisher's insurance company because it will not cover an accident where the driver was driving illegally.
'So, his best recourse may be to claim compensation directly from the company. This may involve legal action.'
An insurance agent with more than 20years experience, who declined to be named, said that Mr Png's NCD may not be affected if he makes an appeal that he was not liable for the accident.
But this can be a tricky affair.
He said: 'Different insurance companies may have different policies and clauses and it can get quite technical.
'Sometimes, it may even be argued that MrPng may have to bear some percentage of responsibility for leaving his car at the polisher.'
But, like Mr Low, he also said that MrPng's best option was to take a legal suit against the polishing company.
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