Momentarily Shaken

The car's right rear after impact

I  figured in a vehicular accident exactly a week ago.  No,  it was not serious.  I  walked away from the accident apparently unscathed;  but  the impact on the car was another matter.

I  was driving that Friday morning  along Don Manolo Avenue in Alabang Hills,  and when I  was  about a few meters from  the gate of St. Benedict Chapel,  my car  was hit hard  from behind by a van.   The van was driven by someone--  who in the spirit of  neighborliness, I prefer not to  identity-- whose daughter is a fellow alumna of my daughters.  The  van driver  apologetically claimed to have  lost  consciousness for a second or two  while behind the wheel and  panicked when the van got too close to  my car.   As it turned out, the driver of the van stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.

I initially felt upset that the incident had to happen in the thick of preparations for my  mother's 80th birthday  celebration at my parents' hometown of Lucban, Quezon.    When Maita  went to  the place of the accident, she was glad to find me  up and about  though visibly   feeling inconvenienced by the whole episode that caused a traffic  jam along the usually busy  road.  Later, I  would tell Maita that I was just  thankful that I  could  make  the trip to Lucban the following day for the family celebration.

From that experience,  I learned that it is advisable to have the following items  inside the car's compartment:

• an extra copy of the car's official receipt and certificate of registration
• a photocopy of one's driver's license
• an extra  copy of the car insurance 
• contact number of your car insurance broker

As of this writing, the   car is still being repaired.  If there is  anything good  from waiting for the car's return,  I  get  to drive  more often for Maita in our other car  these days.