It’s happened! I was in a car accident in Ipoh last week, after having been told by several people over the last few months that it’s a case of when, not if. I was driving along minding my own business and listening to a Tchaikovsky CD when the woman who was driving in the next lane decided with no hesitation, no glance at her mirror and certainly no use of her indicator, to change lanes. She swiped the left front side of my car and then looked at me in amazement, surprised to see me there though I had been driving beside her for several seconds! After getting her details and completing my errands, I made my way to the nearest police station to report the accident. I was told in sign language (none of the police on duty spoke a word of English) I couldn’t report it there, I had to go to the central office of the traffic police in town. Not sure how I found my way there with their woeful directions and through masses of badly behaved traffic. One of the police at the front desk had some English and he proceeded to fill in the report, carefully noting that I was a foreigner, a housewife (!!) and a Christian (he deduced this without asking me). I refused to let him do the report in Malay because I had to sign it. He gave me a copy to take to the investigator who did not speak a word of English either. With the help of someone else, she ascertained what had happened and then organised for a photographer to take a photo of the damage to my car. Apparently they will let me know the outcome of their investigation. I gather, from the insurance company’s website, that I can get a no-claims repair if the police decide I was not at fault. We’ll see. All the police personnel I dealt with were unfailingly polite and wanted to help. But their offices were in a shocking state – dingy, filthy and run down. What a depressing environment to work in! People I have spoken to since tell me that the police are well-funded. If this is the case, none of the money is used on the maintenance of Ipoh police stations.

An update to this report (29 July 2016):

I have not yet heard back from the police. So my chances of getting a no-claims repair were nil. I got my car repaired and paid in cash for the cost of the excess on my insurance policy – go figure! The woman who bashed into my car got away without paying a cent. And so it goes, Malaysia style!