SINGAPORE - A 34-year-old driver has been arrested by Malaysian police after he lost control of his lorry and rammed into 11 vehicles on the Causeway towards Singapore on Thursday (July 7) morning.
The accident involved the lorry, one van, one bus and nine cars. The South Johor Bahru District Police said in a statement on Facebook that six of the vehicles were Malaysian, while the rest were foreign-registered.
The Malaysian driver tested negative for drugs, Johor police said, adding that initial investigations found that he lost control due to technical issues with the brakes, then collided into the vehicles at the scene.
No one was hurt or killed, the police said.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) had, in a Facebook post on Thursday morning, said two out of three lanes at the Causeway towards Woodlands checkpoint were blocked due to a traffic accident involving several vehicles.
ICA updated slightly past noon that all lanes were cleared.
Videos of the incident circulating on social media showed the lorry crashing into a the vehicles at the Causeway towards Woodlands Checkpoint.
There was debris strewn along the road and several damaged vehicles parked to the side. A white van was also seen being towed away.
An SBS Transit bus was spotted near the accident scene as well. The transport operator told The Straits Times no one on board was injured.
Malaysia’s Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said on Facebook that stern action will be taken against the lorry driver or his company if they are found to have failed to follow regulations.
Lawyer Jonathan Cho, who practices with Kalco Law LLC, said the process of dealing with an accident across the border is generally not very different than the one for dealing with an accident in Singapore.
Motorists should have the requisite insurance coverage for driving abroad, he said. If involved in an accident, they should take photos of the accident site and any damage caused, and note down vehicle details and numbers, as well as insurance information.
“Perhaps the additional aspect for accidents in Malaysia is to ensure as many contact details as possible are obtained from the other driver in case that person is hard to locate or identify,” he added.
“If there is only vehicular damage that is not too significant, then typically it would still be open for the parties to settle for an amount privately.”
