NParks searching for tree in crash

Tracy Sua, Straits Times 18 Jan 08;

A DAY after a 2m branch crashed straight through a woman's windscreen as she drove along Bedok South Road, narrowly missing her, the authorities took her back to the spot - to look for the tree in question.

To get to the bottom of how it happened, National Parks Board (NParks) officers took the driver, Madam Jenny Yeh, 47, tree-hunting along the road yesterday.

NParks Section Head of Parks Kenny Khoo examined the 10m- to 12m-tall rain trees along the stretch, but Madam Yeh could not pin down the exact tree from which the branch had plunged into the car.

His officers will inspect the trees although, at first glance, they seemed healthy, he added.

Trees along expressways and heritage roads are inspected once a year, said NParks.

This is done once in 18 months for those along major roads and once in two years for those along minor roads or streets with less traffic.

NParks said on Monday and Tuesday , it received reports of seven cases of fallen branches.

Botanist Hugh Tan told The Straits Times that while rain trees are strong, their branches spread quite far out from the trunk.

Associate Professor Tan, deputy director of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research in the National University of Singapore, said in the case of a diseased or dead branch, fungi would have affected it, weakening the limb.

But even healthy trees are not immune, he said.

'A branch is like a sail. With a certain amount of water and wind pressure, there is a net weight. And if the branch cannot bear the load, it will break.'


Fallen-branch incident was unforeseeable
Straits Times Forum 18 Jan 08;

WE REFER to the letter, 'Who pays for damage from fallen branch?' (ST, Jan 9), from Mr C. S. Mahadevan.

To ensure that the trees along roads and expressways under the charge of the National Parks Board (NParks) are healthy, our team of arborists inspect and prune them regularly.

However, there are elements of nature beyond our control and it is not possible to eliminate tree-related incidents altogether. Extraneous factors such as strong wind and heavy rain can cause branches of even healthy trees to fall.

Notwithstanding this, all claims for damage caused by fallen trees are assessed by our third-party insurer based on their facts and merits. In this case, our insurer has assessed that the incident was unforeseeable and was not caused by NParks' neglect, as the trees along the AYE where the incident occurred are healthy and had been maintained regularly.

In addition, there had been moderate to heavy rain and strong wind during the two days prior to the incident and on the day of the incident itself. Our insurer's assessment is that this combination of natural elements could have caused the branch to fall.

We would also like to clarify that our officer who met Mr Mahadevan after the incident had advised him to submit the relevant information to enable NParks to look into the matter. He did not give advice on whether Mr Mahadevan should repair his car or not.

Mr Mahadevan may contact NParks on 1800-4717300 or First Capital Insurance on 6854-3930 to discuss the matter further.

Tee Swee Ping
Assistant Director, Streetscape
National Parks Board

R. Athappan
Chief Executive
First Capital Insurance Ltd