taxi = hazard?

Were you struck in the so-called (by the EMAS) "massive traffic jam" today on ECP after rochor road? Perhaps i'm one of the witness of the cause of the accident, but i guess it had left an impression in me now... b'cos in all my (young) years, this is the first time i saw an car accident happening in front of me... (previously only the "after effect")

5+ pm today... i was with my colleague on ECP, on the way from office to marina south, for the national day carnival (yes i'm involved...anyone wants to go?? Details later...) As we were chatting, i noticed that there were some clouds of sand on the opposite side of the highway... And because of these sand, a taxi, on the right most lane, stopped to still. The next 4 or 5 cars behind stopped too, but not for the 6th one (a taxi)... It was too late, and it just went into the car infront...and a '98 Mitsubishi Lancer (my favourite model...again..) went right into this taxi, immediately... everything happened soo fast, a series car accident all right in the view of me and my colleague...

So, after around 30mins at marina south, work done, left for home.. I got a ride from my colleague to Pasir Ris. As we entered the highway from marina south, the jam had already extended to here..(it's off-office peak, to make matters worse...) When we finally reached the spot of the accident, then i realise it was worse than what i saw... There's already an ambulance there, so there's injuries...(earlier i still thought there's werent any injuries...) There's another (Brand new) Mazda 3 onto the back of the Lancer too... and the front of the Lancer was partially below the rear of the taxi... so u can see the extend of the impact... but thankfully, it didnt reach until the windscreen, or else the injuries would be even more worse... But the best thing is that, the very first taxi, which stopped on his path unnecessarily, was gone.

Heard from my colleague that it's always the most troublesome matter in cases like this... If your car is being crashed from behind, yes you can claim from that guy's insurance company, but you have to claim from yours first (while the companies sort out the case for months...) But once the other company had paid back your company, then you can enjoy back the No-claim rebate (taken as no claim) ...But if you are the person crashing onto others' car and when they claim from your insurance company, not only you would lost the rebate, you might have to pay a higher premium next year.

And if it's a case of multi car pile up, and if you are the one in the middle, good luck. The case will be much more complicated... it will depends on the action of the person infront.... to claim from you? or not.

But in many cases, the person who caused the accident might not be there...so you just become the innocent one.... Like in my colleague case 2 years back...During then, a BMW cut into his lane abruptly... he e-braked and avoided a crash, but his rear was smashed by a Taxi... his brand new Toyota Corolla was only 2 months old then... and the BMW? sped off.

Hence, no matter what, in an accident, it's always trouble, headache, and heartache.

Pity the drivers involved today on ECP...

And...moral of story for all drivers... :

always keep a safe distance from the car infront, and look far...
....and i will drive carefully too....