How safe is your car ? Click on the title to find out . . .
It was 6.00 am. I was going back home after giving Annette a lift to work across London. Dark and raining. Stopped at the traffic lights, a London bus to the left (in the turning-only lane) and another big red bus to the right. As we all moved off something odd happened : the bus on my left moved into my lane. No signal. No warning. I'm in a tiny Skoda Felica. I become anxious in a milli-second. This is because the bus to my right is moving ahead at the same speed as me, and the two buses are moving towards each other. There's no space for my car. What would you do, because there's a big truck right behind you ?
Crunch . . . the bus on my right squished into the car. It makes a REALLY loud noise, when you've not got the radio on. The bus on the left carried on into my lane and sped off. The bus which hit me pulled over clear of the junction and we did what you always should do, exchange names and addresses and insurance details. His bus had no marks on the paint-work. Pristine and shiny. My car wasn't all bashed up. All we could find was a cracked side-light and a scrape on the wheel arch. The rear-view wing mirror folded flat and survived, so that's another fifty quid I don't have to spend replacing it.
It took me a half-hour to get over the shock. I cannot believe that my first accident ever, trapped between two big buses and I walked away, and the car is drive-able.
Strangely, no-one else stopped to help. There were, even at six in the morning, about fifteen other vehicles at that junction when they saw my car being squished. The police did ask whether I needed an ambulance, but I declined in favour of a cup of tea when I returned home. It's only ten am. what else could happen today ?
Oh yes, my car is about four out of five stars. Reassuring to know.
