Act of God

An act of God is a natural event beyond human control or foresight, such as a sudden flash flood or a landslide, that can be raised as a defence to reduce or remove liability for an accident.

The defence is narrow and rarely succeeds on its own, because Malaysian courts still ask whether the driver could reasonably have avoided or reduced the risk, for example by not driving into obviously flooded roads. It is one of several arguments considered when working out who is at fault after a crash.

Weather alone rarely excuses careless driving, so this defence is usually only relevant in genuinely extreme and unforeseeable conditions.

A driver who continues into a flooded underpass despite visible warning signs, for instance, is unlikely to succeed with this defence.