Two In a Row

The month of January had just been a crazy month. Only a week into the new year, I had my very first ever vehicular accident. It happened on the Tuesday, January 9 at around 1pm. I was driving along the "Mall roundabout", D-Ring Road on my way to Mamoura to fetch my daughter from the nursery. I was already halfway through the roundabout when this huge brownish-yellow bus (the vintage one) hit our car at the lower left side, just the exact area covering the tire. Thug! That was the sound that I heard and I knew that something was wrong. Although I didn’t feel the impact, I was so shocked when I realized that the car had just been hit. So I stopped the car right in the middle of the roundabout and went down to see the damage. The driver of the bus stopped. There we were in the middle, causing the traffic to build up. None of us wanted to move as it should be in accidents. Then the police who was there at that time, signaled that we should park our vehicles somewhere. I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do. I could feel my knees literally shaking. What’s worse, I forgot to bring my mobile phone. Yeah right, just when it mattered. I was worried about my daughter since it was already time to fetch her. At the same time, I was anxious that I couldn’t call my husband to tell him what just happened. Then I had a bright idea! I decided to borrow the police officer’s mobile. Luckily, he had one and was kind enough to lend it to me. Luckily too, I have memorized the home phone number of a friend, so I was able to ask them to take Xiane with them when they fetch their daughter who goes to the same nursery. Then I called my husband and told him the unfortunate news. Another police from the Traffic Department (Accidents Section) came and was the one who processed the whole thing. He asked us both about our side of the story. The driver was an Indian man in his 50s and who knew neither Arabic nor English. I don’t know how he and the police communicated. But from his gesture, I knew that it was a "He said, She said" situation. Then the police gave me a yellow ticket or coupon and told me to go to the Airport Traffic Department the next day.

It was such a frightening experience. To be honest, I was really shaken. My knees just felt weak even after hours had already passed. Being in an accident surely takes so much from you, even if it’s just a minor one. But I’m thankful that it I wasn’t hurt in any way. I went to the Traffic Department with my husband. The reason for being there was to process the documents that I’ll be needing for the insurance. Everything was in Arabic, so we didn’t really know what was being said in the documents until a friend told us that if I’m asked to pay QR100, that meant that the accident was my fault. So I guess, the police decided that it was my fault, although at the back of my mind I was thinking how could it had been my fault. Anyway, it’s done and over with. The insurance has already taken responsibility in the repair and that’s all that matters.

Everything was going so well, when I got into my second (hopefully the last) accident. It was the 30th of January, a Tuesday, around the same time when I had my first and I wasn’t bringing my cell phone yet again. This time, I was driving along Mamoura. I was almost in front of the school when a Toyota Land Cruiser coming from a service road just leaped out of a "give way line" and hit the right side of the car. There was a car before the Land Cruiser but the driver, who I later found out was just a 19-year old guy, stepped on the gas and crashed right into our Picasso. This time, I felt that I was shaken physically. This one definitely had more impact than the first one although I am still thankful that the car wasn’t hit that hard. At the time of the accident, I didn’t feel scared but I was angry. I was mad at the driver because how could he be so careless, rather reckless . We waited long for the police to arrive but nobody responded. Then the guy told me that we should just go to the Mamoura Traffic Department. I took his plate number and mobile just in case he had plans of running away. When we got to the station, I found out that he didn’t have the "istimara" or the car registration with him. Later on, my husband figured that the driver didn’t actually call the police that’s why nobody came. Why would he do that knowing that he didn’t have the registration. The guy actually wanted to leave so that he could get the registration but I didn’t let him. I just told him to ask someone to bring it to him. Once he got the isitmara, we went inside the station. When the police asked, whose fault was it, I instantly replied without hesitation that it was the other party’s fault, to which he didn’t complain. I was just glad that he didn’t try anything nasty just to turn things around. And guess what, he was the one who paid QR100, meaning it was his fault. When Tian came and saw the car, he was angry as well and reprimanded the guy. The tone of his voice really said it all. All the poor guy, who by the way was celebrating his birthday that day, could say was sorry. Well if he had been more careful he didn’t have to feel sorry. 

The car can’t be fixed until the 17th of this month. By then, the front passenger door replacement will hopefully have come from Europe where it  is being ordered. I pray that this would be the last time I’d get into any accidents. It’s not fun at all and it sure does scare the heck out of me. Sometimes I’d just like to stay in the passenger seat and let someone else do the driving but that’s not how it is. I have to live with it and hopefully learn from it.   

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