I Was In A Car Accident

There was no way we could have known an accident was about to happen.  On hindsight, it could have very well been prevented had the other car not gone so fast, and slowed down on time.  From what I remember, she had a good 3-4 seconds to brake and come to a stop.  She must have gone way too fast or she must have been distracted by texting.  There’s no way to tell now.

This was what the rear end of my car looked like after the collision:

And this is what the “banger”‘s car looked like:

The trunk of my car cannot be closed and hence cannot be locked now, and the bumper of my car is brushing against the wheel, hence there is a loud rattling sound when the car moves.

The scariest thing I remember was when I looked in the rear view mirror and witnessed, to my horror, this car moving so fast coming behind me.  I knew it was going to hit me and yet I could do nothing to save the situation.  I could only pray and pray with all my might that the driver would be able to stop on time, and that my girls would not be harmed.

That’s right, my two girls were strapped in in the back seat. We were on our way home from school when the accident happened.

The lady driver (who looked not more than 25) called her dad and when he came we agreed to lodge police reports.  So over the past couple of days, we were busy driving around getting all the documentation ready to submit for insurance claims and more importantly, to get repairs underway.  The current estimate Toyota gave me for completion of repairs is around 10 days! :O

Anyway, here are my own personal tips on how to deal with an accident situation:

• Remain calm at the scene of the accident.  Check if you and your passengers are injured.
• Drive to the side of the road as close as possible to the scene of the accident.  Try not to obstruct moving traffic.
• If there are kids in the car, have them remain in the car while you alight to check on damages to your vehicle.
• Take pictures of your car, and other vehicles involved in the accident.  Make sure you get the vehicle registration number.
• If the person in the wrong agrees to pay you for the damages, get his name and cellphone number, and driver’s licence number.  In an ideal scenario, have him/her follow you to the workshop to assess damages.
• However, if both parties agree to lodge police reports, take the other party’s name and number too.
• Police reports should be lodged within 24 hours from the time of accident.  Please allow a wait time of at least 1 hour for the police report to be submitted.
• Bring along your identity card and driver’s license and just in case the police station does not have a photocopier, bring a copy of each as well.
• Write down your account of the accident with as many details as you can, but remember to include date and time, vehicle registration numbers and location.  The police station that I went to had some templates to follow, so I just used those.
• After the report is submitted, it will go into investigation phase.
• You may purchase the police report during office hours at RM4 per copy.  Since my report was submitted after office hours, I returned the following day and purchased the report then.
• For insurance claiming purposes, I also purchased the report of the person who hit me (RM4), and the results of the investigation including pictures and charts (RM10).
• If possible, drive your car to the workshop and have them start on the repairwork.  Some workshops need all the documents ready in order to assess the damage and make a claim to the insurance company.
• Bring along the original copy and a photocopy of the following documents for submission:
  • Identity card of driver (and owner of car, if different from driver)
  • Driver’s License of driver (and owner of car, if different from driver)
  • Registration card of your vehicle
  • Insurance policy page that shows name of insured car driver and other additional drivers, with validity dates.
  • Police reports
  • Police investigation results (if available)
  • Insurance policy details of the other party  (We had to go to the Road Transport Department to request for a copy of the other party’s insurance details.  Paid RM10 for this)

And now we wait and pray that the repairwork will be completed as fast as possible.

Nobody wants accidents to happen, and of course we always drive safely and make sure everything is covered on our end.  Defensive driving, so they say.  However, things like these happen…someone just knocks you from behind and no matter how good a driver you are, the accident becomes inevitable.

In order to ensure all your best interests are protected in the event of a mishap like the one I had, please keep these pointers in mind:

• Ensure your vehicle has a valid insurance policy with a valid road tax.
• If you are driving someone else’s car, make sure your name is listed under the Additional Drivers section in the car insurance policy.
• Make sure your driver’s licence is valid and not expired.
• Very important:  Buckle UP!!  If you are carrying babies, kids and toddlers, especially, please strap them up in infant carriers and car seats.  And please DO NOT put them in the front seat.  I cannot stress this more importantly.  If your child is below 2 years old, please ensure he/she is in a rear-facing seat at all times, preferably with a 5-point harness.
• Focus on driving when you are behind the wheel!  Do not TEXT while driving!

Lastly, I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone for their prayers and concerns.  I’m ever so grateful to the Almighty God whose loving arms and watchful eyes were over us at all times.