The Accident, The Number

Daddy had always trusted and preferred european made cars to those of asian made for its stability and hard(er) metal. Years ago, he met with an accident that re-enforced his belief on this and today, unfortunately, the incident I've encountered further enhanced that thought(the other vehicle, a Japanese make, has a bad dent and thank goodness, mine was not that bad, given the impact).

We were on our way home from school and at inches(probably a couple metres, i'm no good with this) from the 1st stop line, with the traffic light turning red, I stopped. It wasn't a very slow stop, neither was it an emergency brake(no screeching sound anyway) but this lady behind had to bang head-on to my vehicle's rear. I wasn't even going very fast(as nearing traffic light) and naturally at that distance and speed, I had to stop. I came out to check on the damage and straight away, the lady driver of the other vehicle raised her voice and hand at me :

Driver : "how can u stop like that"

Me : (surprised)"it was amber turning red, I have to stop"
Driver : "Ya, but you cannot stop when it's amber, you have to go"

Me : (shocked this time) "hey, if you asked the traffic police, they'd surely tell you otherwise when you see the lights turning amber."(not to mention we have to slow down when nearing traffic lights/junctions, did she pass her theories? this is sooo basic)

She then continued to argue on her 'dash on when amber' point but I told her she should have kept the appropriate distance in the first place and besides, I have a child in my car, does she really expect me(or even anyone, for that matter) to dash over at that speed? Then, she began to apologise and explained that she was actually turning into my lane to which I told her that she should have been even more careful in that case.

*What's with some drivers these days, still yell at the 'victim' when they're at fault? For those who remembered the case of my car being scratched(at the carpark of Compass Pt, a few months ago) by another lady driver whom insistently went on to park her car, knowing that mine was super near hers? - Same accusationing happened then(for the record, paintwork resurrection was paid by them).

I was still ok and came out to check on the damage but when I went back for my mobile phone, Renee cried out for me and was crying badly. I turned from 'stable' to a state of panic when I heard her complaining of pain at the back of her head and big tears were rolling down her cheeks. I quickly went to check on her and not finding anything serious with my layman knowledge, I went back to tend to the accident situation. I told her that we'd have to move our vehicles off the main road but I would need to take some photos with my mobile phone first and she followed suit. Daddy was on his way to his appointment but he contacted his workshop agent and he arrived shortly after the agent did. Good thing for their existence, 'cos I still have not fully recovered from the shock I've got when I heard Renee's cry and couldn't think straight on what to do next(my past working experiences in related fields didn't help, again...). Even the other lady driver benefitted from their pressence as she was actually at a loss too.

The first thing daddy did upon his arrival was to check on Renee and he then asked me to take her to the Paediatrician for a check-up. However, they were closing when I phoned and they couldn't make an exception as the PD's needed to rush to the hospital, so I headed home.

Once home, normal routine resumed but I maintained a watch-out on Renee for signs of giddiness/sleepiness/vomitting. Blessed, protected, Renee's ok(as per PD after her check-up) and that's all that matters... The PD asked questions on how the accident occurred and about the car seat we're using. She commented that we've made the right choice by using the 5-point harness high back booster, instead of taking on just the booster seat, for stability/security, as she's not of appropriate age/size/height/weight for just the seat alone(luckily I've insisted on this man, though the adjusting knob at the head-rest is an issue for me now).

What's next would be to follow up with the reporting to our insurance companies and so forth and well, you might all think that's about all for now?... but haiz, when daddy was on his way to pick us up from the PD's clinic, he phoned to tell me that our vehicle nos(same no. actually, so only 1 set of number but am not gonna reveal the prize placing to maintain privacy) came out in the 4D results and what's worse was - daddy didn't place his bet!!! Oh man! Although he wouldn't be betting alot but the winnings would still be a pretty good amount and will certainly be handy now especially when he's looking for office locations. Arrrggghhhh...

Daddy was pretty upset about this miss(particularly this) that he got sooo muddle-headed that he forgotten about his handbrake when he came to pick us up from the PD's clinic and the vehicle was moving when he was getting outta car/I was holding on to the door, geez! All I can do now is to urge him to forget about the 'small' missed fortune(small as compared to our safey) and what's ours will be ours in one way or another. Besides, our daughter's fine and that's the best we could ever ask for...

The aftermath - Upon reaching home, I was slowly recomposing myself from the incident but unable to shake off the image which I still remembered very clearly - I still saw her car in my rear view mirror after I've stopped and thinking to myself "*phew, the car's sooo close, luckily it din hit mine" and just in the second when I turned my gaze back to the front, we were 'banged' forward...