Blog » Aftermath and my car
- Posted: Nov 26th 2004, 16:44
The accident has knocked me silly. I’ve calmed down a lot but I’m still totally disoriented. The disorientation has manifested in two distinct forms:
- I can’t get to work as simply as i might have done. I have to actually plan my day instead of jumping in my car at the last minute.
- I just can’t settle my head. My head is, literally, a shed (a wooden hut full of junk). I’m struggling to speak, my body aches, I’m blotchy (whatever that means), and I’m both mentally and physically exhausted.
I’ve tried working out what actually happened and I’m struggling. I suspect that he was speeding and decided to overtake me. Of course, at the speed he was probably going at, he wouldn’t have had much time to change his mind once he was within the breaking distance. The police, who were very helpful settling him down, believe we were both at fault. I disagreed because I was making a simple manoeuvre in an empty road. Of course arguing over petty little things like that is just ridiculous. I was lucky to be alive. If he’d have struck me any later, he’d have ploughed straight into my car door.
The bodywork next to the right-hand passenger seat is bady scratched and bent. The damage extends to the wheel-arch and the door-frame column. Apparently, if he’d have hit me any further forward, I could have been killed or had my legs and ribs broken.
My door (the driver door) has slight damage where he has skidded and finally ricocheted away from my Fiat Uno and stopped 10 yards from me. The door is jammed shut and the driver seat is locked in an awkward position. The door is buckled which caused the door to bend outwards towards the top.
I think the other driver is quite a troubled person. The police knew him by name. They didn’t need to take his address. They have mediated for me very well and I’m hoping that I’ll come out of this with a better car.
The insurance company gave me quite a shock. Danny, who took my call initially yesterday morning, told me that I’d need his insurance policy number in order for the claim to be completed and for Danny’s firm to waive my young person’s excess; young person’s excess is what under-24’s like me (I’m only 23) have to tolerate when we are involved in an accident. Needless to say, I went straight to the police station to get some details. What a load of rubbish,
the nice lady officer at the desk said to me. Go back and remind them that it is their job to deal with these things.
I returned home and re-telephoned the company. The very pleasant young lady who answered this time (Lynn) took every single bit of information from me and assured me not to worry and that the insurance companies would get all the information needed. They’d call me if they needed anything more. The organised a recovery vehicle to collect my car for repairs - or scrapping.