It all happened on 17 Sep 2001. I was traveling back home to PJ from my office in Bangi at around 6pm. There was a huge traffic jam at the Sg. Besi toll because lots of people wanted to go to the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil to witness the SEA Games. To make matters worse, it was also raining, although not heavily.
	My accident occurred at the bend in front of the Desa Water Park. I wasn't driving fast (well, I wasn't driving slow either...), and I did downshift to third gear before entering the bend. The road was wet, and maybe the downshift caused the tires to have too much grip.
	The front tyres didn't slip, but instead I felt that the car was veering itself towards the right, as if on its own force. So I adjusted my steering wheel slightly towards the left, and also applied some brake.
	Suddenly, my car violently turned to the left, and in an instant - it happened so quickly - my car rammed head-on into the road concrete blocks. It was a real, hard whack! My car then did a 180° spin and stopped.
	If not for my seat belt, I definitely won't be here to write this story. But the collision was so hard, and my chest was restrained by the selt belt when I lunged forward, that I had difficulty breathing for a few seconds.
	All I could think of at that time was God. The crash was pretty terrific I thought I would have died. But Alhamdullilah, I was not injured at all. And nobody else was hurt - there were no passengers in my car, and I didn't hit any other vehicles on the road. (Thank God - cos if there were passengers sitting in the rear seat, and normally people don't belt up when sitting behind, well, these fellas would have flung forward like crazy.)
	The front of my car though was a complete wreck. I switched off the engine, and went out to inspect the damage. This was major damage! A few passersby stopped to offer help, which was comforting.  Within minutes, a police officer on his bike arrived onto the scene. He immediately took some photos then asked for my driving license. I was too dazed to take some photos for myself using my own digicam.
	Anyway, some Chinamen together with their tow-trucks also appeared out of nowhere and offered their services. The cop advised me to tow my car away as I was obstructing traffic.
	So, I agreed with the Chinamen to tow my car first to the police station to make a report, then to his workshop somewhere in Selayang. I managed to capture some pictures of my car at the police compound area. Also, the sergeant didn't fine me; otherwise the standard saman is RM300.

 

	One of the Chinamen worker sent me home, and then Yusof, my brother, took me to the clinic for checkup. Thank goodness, no broken bones or anything. Yusof also advised me to send my car to Milan Auto, the main service centre for Alfa. After all, the insurance company will pay for the repairs, so I might as well send it to a proper workshop.
	The next day, I got Hussien, my brother, to assist me in:- Going to Milan Auto and getting advice from them on repairs and tow-charges. Going to Takaful, my insurance agent to report the accident. Driving to Uniten to fetch my car documents. Driving all the way to Selayang to get my car retowed to Milan Auto. This proved to be the most challenging task because the taukeh will try his level best to persuade you to repair your car at his workshop. After two hours of skilled negotiation by Hussien, which happened over teh tarik, the taukeh finally gave in. So, a tow-truck came and they hauled my car all the way to Milan Auto in PJ. The taukeh charged me RM620 for towing and storage charges! This figure, it seems, is very reasonable, and according to Milan Auto, had I been unlucky, it could easily have cost more than RM1,000!
	We followed the tow-truck to Milan Auto, and got the main mechanic to assess the damage. He estimated my car will take two to three months to get repaired! He hasn't mentioned cost yet, but a figure of more than RM20,000 or even RM40,000 is not surprising. Wow!

 

Well, this is my first ever major car accident. My mind is still reeling from the disaster, and a bit of phobia in driving still lingers. Thank God again I'm alive and well, and no one was hurt.