Accident

I’ve been in a car accident, on Thursday afternoon. I was on the A4 waiting to turn right down into Fulham when a BMW went into the back of me, shunting me forward into a 4x4. I was stationary but the woman driving the BMW was moving forward slowly. Apparently her foot slipped and must have hit the accelerator because the impact was quite forceful. Her tank of a beamer and the 4x4 were virtually unscathed but my Ford Escort is a mess. Without VAT the damage is £1500. Now if we did it on insurance, they would class it as an uneconomical repair and refuse to pay up. But, she doesn’t want to go through insurance because it’s her husband’s car (they are going through a divorce) and she doesn’t want to tell him about the accident. I’ve since phoned her and she’s happy to write a cheque, which means I get to save Peggy. And believe me I would have to spend a lot more than she is worth on paper to get such a reliable car with so little mileage so I really, really want to save her. Plus, and I do realised some people would think this is sentimental nonsense, but she is like our chariot – we’ve been all over the country; literally up mountain and down dale, and she’s never let us down.

I’m ok. I drove home without incident although I was very shook up. My back is a little sore; I probably have some minor soft tissue damage. My neck is ok though, but my left knee is sore. Driving an automatic my leg is often bent (because my foot doesn’t need to be on a pedal) and so it took a lot of impact.

I can’t deny I’m really angry at this woman. Which is not helpful because accidents do happen; she was upset and apologised and gave me her details and seems to be prepared to put right the damage, but still. She drives away without a scratch and my car is a mess and she caused the accident. And that really fucking sucks.

Despite it all, we did go round to Slightly’s for dinner later that evening and actually had a really lovely time.

We’re having a do-nothing weekend. We’ve just taken Pluto and his best mate Charlie down to the woods, and now we’re going to have lunch in the garden. Later we’re going to have some cold beers and a bar-b-q… which after the last couple of days is exactly what I need!