The Accident

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I've been driving for about twenty years and I've been fortunate enough to only have had one minor fender bender back in my 20s. I've been in a few others (where I wasn't the driver) but none of the were anything serious. And certainly, none of them really scared me.

Until today.

I was driving home from work on my usual two land highway. It was a beautiful sunny day and quite warm. Suddenly, up ahead, I heard a loud exploding noise. In the oncoming traffic lane was a large lorry truck. Then, seemingly in slow motion, I saw a lorry tire flying across my lane. Right at me. I saw it coming, closer and closer. It seemed really big. My first instinct was to avoid it at all costs. My second instinct was to check around me for motorcycles. I saw one, right in front of me, and knew I had two choices:

Let the tire hit me and hope for the best

Swerve, hit the motorcyclist, and most likely kill him

Not surprisingly, I braced for impact. When the lorry tire hit me, it hit my front end with a loud slap. I was stunned but still moving. It hadn't hit my windshield. I was fine. The motorcyclist had been hit by some debris, but he pulled over on his own. Convinced I was okay (and not really thinking) I kept going. A few km later it I pulled over for gas, realizing I was low. And that even though my car looked fine, maybe I should look more closely.

The front panel had popped out. There was black markings from the tire all over. I was suddenly overwhelmed by the whole thing (the numbness was wearing off) and immediately called some of my teachers. I knew they'd be heading by shortly. Most of them were better car experts than I am. (I was suddenly wondering if it was safe to drive.) And, of course, since it's a rental, I needed to file a police report for insurance purposes.

A few minutes later a small car pulled up and five men got out to look at my car and see how I was. I was so grateful to see them. After they un-expertly assessed my car, 4 of them left and the other one and I drove to the nearest police station. We filed the report with no problems, and I was grateful to have someone to act as translator; it no doubt saved a lot of time and stress for all parties. Luckily, lorries driving off after a tire blowout are pretty common so the police weren't upset that I couldn't tell them more. Photos were taken by phone, sent electronically, and the whole thing was wrapped up in no time.

I drove my teacher back to his car and then drove home. I called the rental company, a little nervous. The woman who answered listened carefully to my story and then said, "Oh, is this Kelly?" My first thought was how often does Kelly call you guys that that's your first instinct? I guess she and I are the only two mentors the woman knows and just took a guess. She said she'd work on getting a loaner car and call me back.

One hour later the loaner car showed up at my home. The guy from the rental place took photos of the car, the police report, and my ID for insurance purposes. They didn't seem upset and said my car would be ready in a week. Then he parked the loaner in my car port and left. I realized he gave me an older car, but a fully loaded one.

I guess if you have to be hit by flying debris, this was the best possible outcome anyone could ask for: help, support, understanding, and a speedy car with leather seats.

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Comments

[Home and Away]

Glad to see you are safe...
and that insurance took care of everything.

[Gwen]

Yikes!
Glad you are okay!!

[Dad]

Yikes!!
Glad you are OK. Scary enough in your own country, much less in a foreign country with a different language.