Abdul Malik Ishak J:

[1] Both the parents ('the father' being the first plaintiff and "the mother" being the second plaintiff) did not witness the accident that killed their 20 year old unmarried son ("the deceased") who was riding motorcycle JCE 3492 along the stretch of Jalan Johor Bahru - Kota Tinggi road on 19 July 1992 at about 8.40 pm. Fortunately, some light was shed as to how the accident occurred through the evidence of Mohd Daud bin Che Mat (SP3) ("Daud") the driver of motor bus DN 1465. Daud testified that he was involved in an accident whilst driving the said motor bus ladened with passengers on his way to Kota Bharu from Johor Bahru and that the accident occurred at 91/2 milestone along the stretch of Jalan Johor Bahru - Kota Tinggi road. Daud testified that he left Johor Bahru at 8.00 pm and that stretch of the road, at the material time, was quite dark without any street lights and he had to switch on the exterior front lights of the said motor bus. The road, however, was not busy. The weather condition was good and it was not raining either. Daud described that the road on his side had two lanes whilst the opposite traffic would be utilising only one lane. The investigating officer that arrived at the scene on that day was Corporal 72791 (now Sergeant) Mat Badri bin Hj. Hassan (SP4 - "the Sergeant") and he drew the sketch plan of the accident as reflected in exhibit (P5). The sketch plan showed the measurements of the road that was utilised by Daud to be 11 feet between "A" land "B" and another 11 feet between "B" land "C". This meant Daud had full access to 22 feet wide road as compared to the size of the road to be utilised by oncoming traffic and this was at point "C" to "D" measuring 11 feet in width. There was a broken white line between "A" and "C" and this can be seen at point "B". Dividing the road utilised by Daud and that of the oncoming traffic was a double white line. Reverting back to the facts of the case, Daud proceeded to explain that he drove on his left side of the road and he was accustomed to that stretch of the road. Before the accident, Daud stated that he did not know that there was an oncoming vehicle from the opposite direction and he did not see whether there was any vehicle behind his motor bus. Daud testified that upon arrival at 9'A milestone of that stretch of the road, he saw a motor lorry coming from the opposite direction encroach into his side of the road. As soon as Daud saw this state of affairs he quickly manoeuvred the said motor bus to the left more towards the side table (as reflected in the sketch plan) but to no avail. That motor lorry rammed to the right rear side portion of the said motor bus, near to the right rear tyre of the said motor bus (see the photographs "P7C" and "P2J") causing extensive damage thereto. Daud stopped the said motor bus, alighted from it and saw the damage to his motor bus. Daud also saw the motor lorry bearing registration no JAU 1201 that had encroached and rammed his motor bus earlier on being left abandoned and unattended on his (Daud's) correct side of the road. The driver of that motor lorry was no where to be seen. Of pertinence, Daud also saw a motorcycle bearing registration no JCE 3492 lying underneath the motor lorry as reflected in photograph "P6E". With presence of mind, Daud left the motor bus with another standby driver in attendance together with all the passengers therein, and proceeded by taxi to contact an officer of the motor bus company and together they then proceeded to Ulu Tiram police station where Daud lodged a police report vide Ulu Tiram report no: 2510/92 (see bundle marked C (ii) at p 15 where Daud's police report was marked as "P4"). It is pertinent to mention here that Daud's police report at "P4" reflects what he had said in Court and this would surely add mileage to his evidence. Great weight would be attached to Daud's evidence. Daud took pains to mention relevant facts in his police report (see Mohd T