Monday, June 20, 2011

a fathers' day i won't forget

not because i delivered the message in church.

but because, for the 1st time (& i pray, the last) i was involved in an accident on the highway. traffic was heavy & both lanes were laden with moving vehicles. i was on the outer lane when the car in front suddenly slowed down & braked. i did likewise & so did the car behind. although i stopped in time, the car behind didn't & he rear-ended me. not only that, the car behind his also knocked into him.

we all felt the sharp jolt & the kids sleeping at back had a rude awakening. thank goodness for rear seat-belts & the discipline instilled in using them at all times.

as it turned out, only the back bumper was severely dented & part of it had abutted against a rear tyre, making a sort of scraping  noise. but the car behind, a waja, suffered heavily. besides the front & back portion damage, i could see water, probably from the radiator, leaking as well.

the 3rd car, a wira, had frontal damage. both the waja & wira had to be towed but fortunately, no one was seriously injured. a child from the waja had a mild knock on the head while the driver of the wira had neck pain. without identifying my background, i had a cursory look & reassured both that they will be ok.

but you have to hand it to the vultures tow-truck operators. 3 were at the scene before you could say "insurance." i could still drive, so after getting the relevant info from the driver of the car that hit me, i made my way to the police station myself, thanks to the GPS.

i thought i had all the essential info but having undergone a traumatic experience, i left out an important piece of info. the EXACT LOCATION of the accident. it's ironic, esp when i had a GPS with me. so after making a few phone-calls, it was one of the tow-truck operators who provided the location.

when making a report at the police station, the young driver of the wira arrived later. his neck was still stiff but i reassured him that he'll be fine. we had a chit-chat & he surprised me when he wished me Happy Fathers' Day.

ha ha, like i said, this is one i won't forget!!

11 comments:

stay-at-home mum said...

I wouldnt like to remember a father's day that way!! Just like I wouldnt like to remember New Year's eve 2011 - when I had my accident. Glad to know that no one was badly hurt. BUT, the inconvenience of an accident - I dont wish that on anybody!!

SOO [¥] said...

Haha, that's a funny one. You driving a beemer rite, doc!

ilene said...

Phew ... good thing you kept a fare bit of distance from the car in front of you! Some more your new Altis! Aiyoh so heart ache. You're going to be more heart (and head) ache when your car has to remain in the workshop for a few days. We rely too much on our 4-wheels and will be so lost without one. But I'm glad no one got hurt. Thank God for that.

SOO [¥] said...

Oops, looks like i accidentally gave my identity away while commenting on this post from my h/p.

I'm "house-tai"... nice to meet ya. LOL

p/s: don't publish this comment! happy father's day!! :p

doc said...

SAHM,

well, it's a matter of time; if you are on the road a lot, invariably an accident will occur & you may not even be at fault.

but i did learn new things i would otherwise not know, eg. you need a copy of the police saman letter to the errant party before you can claim against his insurance.

doc said...

Soo,

ha ha, that's a funny one because i only drive an altis.

doc said...

Ilene,

i have to confess that i don't have the same attachment to this car compared to the previous one, so i didn't feel heartache at all. just convinced myself that it was one of those days!

the hospital & the boy's school are both near the house, so we should be able to manage with just the wife's car.

yes, we're just grateful no one was seriously injured.

iml said...

Indeed an unforgettable day.

doc said...

Iml,

i will remember this for many years to come!

Adino said...

Aarrgh... your car is quite new right? But I guess it's a good choice since you only had minor damage compared to the Protons.

doc said...

Adino,

it's just a year-old & the whole back bumper will need to be changed.