My Brush with Death!

ooooohh! Sounds scary? Well it was a little. I was in my car this morning, minding my own business when it all went horribly pear shaped!!

A major arterial route through the south western suburbs is Stacey Street in Bankstown. I drive down this road quite often as my office is close by and some of my customers are found around there too. This morning was not unusual, I was heading down Stacey st, on my way to meet my boss, when the lights changed. Still nothing unusual.

I slowed my car to a stop behind a rather ugly looking green van and, as you do when you get a break, I began looking around, through my rear vision mirror, through my side windows, back to my rear vision mirror...just in time to see the car two behind me, slam into the car 1 behind me and hurl it forward into the car behind me, which in turn came racing towards the rear of my car! It all happened in slow mo, which gave me time to think and I put my foot on the accelerator just as the ugly green van started to move off through the lights.

Unfortunately for me (and the car behind me), the green van didn't take off fast enough so I in turn couldn't either and the car behind me had no where to go except up my car's arse!

Here's the "brush" part, I got out of the car thinking, not about my safety or my car's damage, but rather, "I'm gonna be late", "this is gonna take ages to sort out"....I wandered around to the back of the car (I say wandered, as I simply wasn't that interested) and to my suprise found the only damage done was a small scratch about 5mm x 5mm!! I magnanimously let the driver behind me off with a smile (I say magnanimous as isn't my insurance that will pay for it, and I really didn't need the hassle, and neither did she). I drove off to my appointment thinking all was well...

That was, until I drove back past the accident 30 minutes later and saw the ambos with the jaws of life prying an elderly bloke out of the car 2 behind me! He didn't look at all well, and I dare say, neither did the cars! The offender at the back had no bonnet left of his car and all his airbags had exploded leaving shattered glass all over the road, the car in front of him with the elderly man in it was sandwiched and looked about 1/6 the size it had originally been. The girl behind me escaped with a bent rear fender and me with a minor scratch!

Anyway, it makes you think....if I hadn't been able to move forward as I saw the accident happening we might have been cutting the girl free from her car and I'd have a billion forms to fill out for the insurance.