There is a sound

[den]

So I'm driving home from work after picking up a well-read bat from a local book shop. (Travel section, Australian Touring Maps.) The afternoon was warm and dry, and the traffic was slowing down for a round-about. I saw the traffic stopping, so I stopped.

There's a sound you never really want to hear when you are driving; the sound of four wheels locked into a skid. There is something about the sound that you just know you're going to be involved. In the words of Batty Koda from Fern Gully, "This is gunna huuuurt!"

I pushed harder on the break, possibly to make the car behind me stop faster. It didn't work, sadly.

So this car


hit my car


quite hard.


In fact, he hit me hard enough to push my car


into the car in front of me


There is another sound that occurs when this happens. It's a dead slience broken only by cooling metal and the tinkle of glass.

The Police were called, of course. I was lucky because my pushing on the break had braced me against the seat and head-rest, so when the crunch happened I sank into soft Toyota seat and head-rest goodness. And when I hit the car in front I hardly stressed the seat belt. And the air-bags didn't go off. Which is nice.

My car is driveable despite the damage. The boot, bonnet and doors all open and close, and after a little work with 100mph tape

I was off. What you can't fix with duct tape, you can fix with a hammer. And if you can't fix it with a hammer then it's an electrical problem.

First stop on the way home was to buy some essential supplies.


The bat is fine. I remembered to put my hand on the box to stop it from going flying. I'll feed her then take her back down-town in my brother's car for release.

Comments

[sleepyjohn00.livejournal.com]

OW. Glad you're OK. My wife got rearended at a stop sign, years back, and got a concussion bad enough that she was night-blind for weeks. The person in the car behind walked up, said, "Oh, everyone's OK", and drove off. She had a big smear of lipstick all down the side of her face, so guess what she was doing instead of watching the road.

What was your jackass's excuse?

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

The low sun shining on the rear of my car meant he couldn't tell if my brake lights were on or not.

I'd have thought the line of stationary traffic in font of him might have been a clue.

[sleepyjohn00.livejournal.com]

"None of the cars ahead of me are moving, but I don't see any brake lights, so I'm OK." Nice to know we don't have a monopoly on that kind of idiot.