A 24-year-old man said he will sell his pickup truck to help compensate the owner of a 31-million-baht Rolls-Royce that he collided with on Aug 13.
Sun Yuhan, 38, a Chinese businesswoman, was at the wheel of her Rolls-Royce Ghost when it was rear-ended by an Isuzu pickup truck driven by Pongthep Reunreng on Highway 7 in Bang Pakong district, Chachoengsao.
Ms Yuhan filed a report with the police and demanded compensation.
Mr Pongthep was summoned to Highway Police Station 2, Sub-Division 8, yesterday to pay a 1,000-baht fine for negligent driving. He also met with Ms Yuhan and her lawyer, Anirut Khongsap, to discuss damages.
Police said Mr Pongthep, accompanied by his lawyer Ratchapon Sirisakorn, admitted the crash was his fault.
Mr Pongthep said his vehicle insurance had expired and pleaded with Ms Yuhan that he could not afford full compensation for the repairs.
According to Ms Yuhan's lawyer, her insurance company will send the total cost of the repairs to Mr Pongthep within a few days. The initial estimation is at least 2 million baht.
Mr Pongthep said the best he could do was sell his Isuzu D-Max pickup, his sole asset, and use the money as compensation.
According to the Land Traffic Act, drivers must maintain a sufficient distance from the vehicle in front so they can slow down and stop safely without crashing into it.
Mr Ratchapon said that car accessories may have affected the braking capacity of Mr Pongthep's pickup as skid marks were only evident on one side of the road at the accident site.
The lawyer said Mr Pongthep should not have been driving so fast as his relatives and children were in the vehicle with him.
The insurance premium for Rolls-Royce cars reportedly costs around 400,000 baht and covers accidents valued anywhere up to 26 million baht.