China Ferrari driver only asks for RM122 from elderly tricycle rider who scratched his RM2.90mil sports car causing RM64,500 damage

A young man who only asked for a small amount of compensation after an elderly man on tricycle scratched his 4.5mil yuan (RM2.90mil or US$620,000) Ferrari sports car causing 100,000 yuan worth (RM64,544 or US$14,000) of damage has been praised on mainland social media.

The driver of the luxury Italian sports car, surnamed Gan, from Shanghai, won applause for his tolerance and for not embarrassing the elderly tricycle driver, despite the fact that the latter initially tried to flee the scene, Jiupai News reported.

In a video of the incident that has gone viral, the man’s yellow Ferrari is stopped at a zebra crossing next to a red tricycle when the minor collision takes place.

After a short exchange of words with the elderly man, Gan picks up his smartphone to call the local police as the tricycle driver moves off.

Gan said that the accident happened on The Bund at about 8pm on August 15. The body and side mirror of the Ferrari were scratched.

“He was going to drive away, but I stopped him,” Gan told Jiupai News.

However, the luxury car driver did not lose his cool with the elderly man and when the police arrived the electric tricycle driver was told he should take full responsibility.

Gan said he did not want to make things difficult for the man, adding that he received a full apology and only asked for 190 yuan (RM122) in compensation.

He also said that the Ferrari belonged to a company that operates a luxury vehicle rental business and he was test-driving it.

Gan added that repairs to the scratches would cost 100,000 yuan (RM64,544), an expense that he would meet from his own pocket.

The story has gone viral on the mainland social media, with one online observer saying: “Gan is very kind and thoughtful.”

Another person agreed: “It is obvious Gan doesn’t really want to ask for any compensation from the elderly man, he just hopes he can learn from his mistake.”

Interesting accident stories often go viral in China.

In February, a woman in northwestern China touched many people after she kept talking to a driver trapped in a mangled car following an accident to keep him awake until help arrived.

Late last year, a father in southern China was praised after saying he wanted to teach his three-year-old son the value of taking responsibility by making him apologise and pay 2,000 yuan (RM1,290) for scratching a neighbour’s cars. – South China Morning Post