It had to happen sooner or later given the NCR battle maze that we drive through. My only regret being that it happened for no fault of mine (though 9 times out of 10 that's what happens)! I was on my way to Office yesterday morning at around 10.30 am. I was running late but NOT pelting or driving rash, just cruising along listening to Bob Dylan's Modern Times. Maybe I should blame him........
Proceeding towards Okhla, past the Nehru Place flyover, in front of the Bus Terminal, now picture this - on the extreme right hand lane (right next to the central divider/wall, cannot go any further right) peacefully minding my business when, out of the corner of my left eye, I see a motorbike skidding out of control (he must have been at around 40-50, dunno and there was some altercation or something with an Indica) and spinning straight TOWARDS MY PASSENGER SIDE at a fair lick!
In a flash, I realized that braking would not help, he'd hit me in any case so I floored the pedal in the hope that I would get by before he arrived(!) but that was not to be - a LOUD thud and the bu***r had slammed into my front left door, then another thud as he hit the rear wheel arch.
So I stopped & got off.....you can imagine my mood - PI***D OFF would be an understatement. The Indica driver had also stopped & got off & he was abusing the motorcycle guy (who was on the ground along with his pillon rider & motorcycle) and the m'cycle guy was on the defensive.
My first reaction was to pull the guy up from the ground & check for any serious injuries (hitting a 3 tonner at that speed could not have been a pleasant feeling
) but fortunately there were none, then I looked at my silver beauty and my mood went for a further dip - a huge dent on the door, not to mention scratches on the paint on both the doors, rear bumper cladding chipped in one corner and alloy wheel center cap cracked! All because some stupid idiot could not control his motorcycle!
Anyway, I amazed even myself by what I did next! I pointed out the damage to him, he was highly apologetic & then I let him go!!!!! To be honest, I was itching to THRASH the Indica guy because he must have done whatever that made the biker swerve & lose control and cause this mess. The mobike was also damaged, the guy was hurt so what could I do guys???? I let him go without a shout or an abuse
.
Mind you, I HATE the way these bikers zip in & out of traffic & tap mirrors etc so I normally never resist giving them a piece of my mind or an elbow/tail wiggle whenever I get an opportunity but somehow I was feeling sorry for the b*****d......does that make any sense??
Some pics of the damage - looks almost as if I got hit at a traffic intersection running a red light instead of what actually happened!
So that was my Terrible Tuesday! This morning, apprehensively made my way to the workshop & they initially asked me to fill up the Claim papers as the amount would be quite a bit if both doors & rear bumper cladding were to be repaired and painted.....subsequently their body shop guys & the Senior Works Manager told me that they'd fix it appropriately and it would cost less than half of what they'd said earlier - so, to avoid the impact of the no-claim & "loading" for purposes of next year's renewal, it now makes sense for me to not claim any insurance. I must say the amount mentioned seems very reasonable to me, I hope they do a good job! He's said they'll try & give it back within a day but I'm mentally prepared for two or three days. So first thing on Saturday morning, I intend to give my beauty for the "treatment".
I'm now in a slightly better frame of mind.
MORAL OF THE STORY: S**t happens when you least expect it & there's nothing you can do to prevent the dung stains!
PS: This is one TOUGH babe by the way - the speed at which the biker hit, a sedan would have had a completely crumpled door, not to mention (probably) glass breakage, power window mechanism damage, speaker damage etc.