A sad upgrade to my ownership thread:
The Accident
Yesterday I had gone to City Centre (its a mall in Kolkata). As anyone who's been there would know, the parking area has a broad lane with cars parked perpendicular to it on both sides. At about 8 PM I returned to my car, and had just nosed it out a few inches from the slot.
At the same time an Indica was zooming in from the right. Its owner/driver was looking down, checking something on his music system, oblivous to the fact that his car was hurtling along at a fair pace STRAIGHT AT RIGHT ANGLES TO MY CAR!
I honked a few times, then finally tried reversing back. But it was too late. With a WHAM, the Indica ploughed into my car's front bumper from the right. The impact mangled part of the bumper, and broke the front numberplate from its mounting (It had to be extricated from HIS front bumper later
). By the time the owner realized this, he had gone ahead a few metres. Thankfully the security guards on duty stopped him almost immediately.
I ran to the car and took the guy out, shouting like mad. He was a guy in his late 20s (about my age) with his shocked wife sitting next to him. He seemed extremely apologetic as I showed him what he had done to my car. He kept saying sorry. He gave me his phone number and promised to make good whatever damages were incurred. After 5 mins of raving and ranting, I too realized that the situation was not going anywhere. It was only the other drivers in the parking lot who were having an amusing time.
It felt really bitter as I brought the car back home. Tomorrow seemed to be a long wait.
The Service Centre
Today I took the car to the Spring Hyundai service centre. The service advisor looked at the damage and immediately said that the bumper would need replacement. Total costs would be about 2200 for the bumper and 4000 for the painting. They confirmed that insurance would pay for the paint entirely, but only 50pct of the bumper cost (as per policy) as it is a PVC (non-metal) item. That means I would have to pay around 1-1.5K out of my own pocket.
As for the Indica owner, everyone in my family told me that I should have seized his DL or car reg papers yesterday, so that he doesnt just run away after the incident and shirk responsibility. Luckily, he turned out to be a sport. Not only did he pick up my calls today, he agreed to pay the difference amount as well once I showed him the bill. We are due to meet this Friday.
What now?
For starters, the car will be in the Service centre for the rest of this week. That means I am back to using my Indica (relegating my Kamikaze mom to using dad's office car/taxi - tough job
) for these few days. Hey, maybe its a good chance to do an ownership review of my old plagued horse now!
On a serious note, the accident also got me thinking. It was entirely the fault of the Indica owner, as he also agrees. Its a different story that he turned out to be a nice guy and agreed to pay me damages. But what of his ignorance which caused the accident in the first place? What if it wasnt a parking lot (but a road) and he was zooming at 80 while adjusting his music volume?
How many times do each of us take our eyes off the road, unaware that a human/car/object is lurking metres away from us?
If anything, it has taught
me to be more mindful on the road, and never, never to take my eyes off it.