Re: ARTICLE: Seat Belts Saved My Life! True Stories & Pictures from BHPians This happened on 21.07.2012, exactly four days after my 52nd birthday; and my first road accident, if we discount a couple of falls from bike suffered over the years.
My brother's wife had purchased a 2004 model Chevrolet Optra from her colleague a few months earlier. Though she had learned to drive, she had not started driving by herself on the roads and engaged a call driver for their outings. I too had filled that roll on a few occasions, just to familiarize myself with a car bigger than my Alto. Though eight years old and 85k on the odo, the car was in excellent condition and always serviced at Sundaram Motors.
Subsequent to their son securing admission in engineering college, my brother and family planned a road trip to Velankanni. The call driver demanded Rs 3000.00 for the trip. So I thought I will drive the car myself and use the chance to visit Velankanni church, which I otherwise may not do by myself.
We started at 7.30 AM, filled up the tank at Shell and took the NH45 route first to Pondicherry. Visited and spent some time at the Aurobindo Ashram first, then at the Manakkula Vinayakar temple. Later had lunch at A2B restaurant, and I ate lightly, as is my habit during highway drives. Then started out towards velankanni around 2.00 PM. Cuddalore, Chidambaram and Sirkali passed by in quick succession, and beyond this I was on unfamiliar roads. In about two hours time we were nearing Thirukkadaiyur. The plan was to halt at Hotel Sadhabishekam there for a coffee break before proceeding. But it so happened the hotel was off the main road so I missed it and we were outside the town in no time. Loathe to back-track, I continued on towards Karaikal town, a big mistake.
A little afterward we had a loud thud on the left rear door as if someone had thrown a stone. I slowed down but as the road was deserted, I did not want to stop then and there and decided to check it at our next halt. My brother's wife and son were asleep in the rear seat and my brother was in the front passenger seat. We were discussing whether it could have been some dacoity attempt and I was distracted, but observed a STC bus approaching our road from the left at some distance, almost at a right angle. I presumed it was approaching from a side road. Too late I noticed that our own road was taking a very very steep left turn, actually an S bend. There was no warning sign. I took the bend at about 70 KPH but to my horror the car drifted towards the right half of the road; I observed the STC bus parked on his side of the road, well on his left side. I braked in panic and stood on the pedal but the car will just not obey my steering input and come out of it's right pull. The bus loomed larger, larger and larger in my windshield and finally.....WHAM! The time was 4.30 PM.
The bonnet crumpled like origami paper and punctured the wind screen. Steam started gushing through the AC vents and my brother's wife who had just woken up screamed, thinking it was smoke. The engine was still running and I turned it off in a daze. There was no damage inside the cabin and I was not hurting anywhere. I quickly checked the others and none seemed hurt, though my brother's son who was also sleeping seemed to have slightly bruised his forehead, where he had bumped the front seat. I blessed my obstinate, sometimes abrasive habit of making everyone wear their seat belts, irrespective of the seat occupied. I had overruled the objections of my brother's wife and son that very morning.
Gingerly all of us got out of the car. No need to open the bonnet; it already was open! The radiator was gone. There seemed to be loss of lube oil as well, though I could not be sure. So gently started the car, reversed it to the open ground at the side of the road and switched off. Hats off to the bus driver. He had already foreseen I was going to hit him and had pulled over to the left side and brought the bus to a dead halt. I shudder to think what could have happened otherwise. It was a Chennai bound bus; another bus passing by was flagged down and all the passengers were transferred to it. some took pity on us and offered words of comfort, and some others went cursing us all the time!
By this time the bus driver had called for support and his union guys from the nearest STC depot had come to the scene. They suggested since nobody from either the bus or car was injured, both parties go to the nearest Police station at Poraiyaar town and write a compromise letter in the presence of Police. Since it was in the middle of nowhere and it will be dark in a little while, we all thought it was a good idea. Called a friend at Karaikal town to come with a Tata Ace truck and tow the car to his home, and keep it safe until further advice. Went to the Police station where I and the bus driver wrote similar letters enumerating the sequence of events, signed and handed over to the inspector. We each kept one copy of both letters for our reference, of course.
The driver of the bus was a strange one. his bumper was bent inwards quite severely. I thought the expense will be recovered from his salary and so offered him a thousand rupees to cover the expenses. But he refused despite my insistence and said " Sir, you say you are going on a pilgrimage. Please drop the money in the hundi there as an offering. Let us both thank our stars that nothing serious happened" and left. The friend from Karaikal dropped us at Velankanni by his car. We had darshan and took an omnibus to Chennai the next day. The car was later sent by truck to Sundaram Motors Chennai at a cost of Rs 10,000 and unloaded by crane at a further cost of Rs 2500. Total repair bills, including these came to Rs 162000.00 out of which insurance paid for Rs 82000.00. The difference of Rs 80,000.00 was borne by us. Major items replaced were the bonnet, bumper, headlights, windshield, radiator and power steering pump. Engine was miraculously untouched.
The Optra was simply superb under such panic braking and attempt to pull left at the same time. A lesser car would have turned turtle. I have absolutely no doubt the seat belts saved us from certain injury, if not worse. Lessons learnt:
a) Always wear seat belt and make everyone do so. (Have always followed this).
b) If driving on unfamiliar roads, take a familiar vehicle. If driving an unfamiliar vehicle, take a familiar route. In both cases, you will come up trumps. Else, it is always risky.
Now, a bit of the supernatural - according to my mom! The next day after arriving Chennai, I went by train to office since both the Alto and the bike were away for service. I was walking along the racecourse road towards office when a cyclist came and hit my right leg from behind, tossing me on the platform. This resulted in abrasions on my hands and knee, and I took first aid and a TT shot.
The very next day, I was standing near the front gate of my apartment complex at 6.00 AM after switching on the sump and bore well motors, which is my responsibility as the secretary. I always spend a few minutes near the front gate, enjoying the early morning breeze. This day a bare-bodied man with a huge red tilak on his forehead, headed straight for me and said 'sir, I work in the nearby crematorium. I need a shirt, will you please give me one?". Though not superstitious, I was taken aback for a moment; then told him to wait, went inside and brought a not so old shirt for him. He wore it then and there, thanked me and left. My mom was very sure he was none other than the bad time stalking me, which had now been propitiated and left!
Now let the pictures speak for themselves. The blue paint on the bumper and the bonnet belong to the STC bus. The last picture was taken at Sundaram Motors, after the restoration! |