Today, we got in a bad car accident on the way home from the Somerset West mall. A little white VW Citi Golf took a right turn into my path at a green robot (stoplight). I was traveling at about 70 km/hour before I hit the brakes.
All four of us were in the car at the time. All four of us are fine. We were all wearing our seat belts, and we more-or-less walked away from the accident. We are really blessed to be alive! The passengers in the other car were not so lucky. Fewer of them were strapped in. One had glass in her eye, and another has really sore (maybe broken) ribs. They left the scene in an ambulance.
The driver of the white VW Citi Golf turned right at a green light that we were traveling straight through. Because South Africans drive on the left side of the road, a right turn is across traffic. On the divided highway that is Strand Road (a.k.a. R44), the driver of the Citi Golf, turned into our path. I slammed the brakes and turned left but couldn't avoid their car. The front of our car hit the left front wheel of theirs. If I hadn't been swerving left, I probably would have hit the left-side doors where there were unbuckled passengers.
I want to repeat that we are all fine. Our only difficulties will be some stiffness and soreness. Catherine will bounce back the quickest, both emotionally and physically. Tonight she was saying things like "I've never been in a crash before." "I really don't like car crashes." "Where is our blue car?" And "can we ever drive our blue car again?" Mark was pretty shaken by the event. The seat belt gave him a few abrasions on his shoulder and neck, and his hip is a bit sore. Tracy has a sore backside and neck. And, I have a sore neck, elbow, and knee.
Our car (a blue Nissan Sentra) has a badly smashed front end, and I would be very surprised if it is not a total loss. The white VW Citi Golf is also likely totaled.
After the crash, some very nice witnesses who lived nearby took Tracy, Mark, and Catherine to their house for some recovery time while I dealt with the police and towing service. Tracy and the kids were offered tea, of course, but they were too shaken to accept.
I have to say that the police constables were fantastic throughout the whole process. They were courteous and professional at all times. They arrived on the scene in less than 5 minutes, and the ambulance followed shortly thereafter.
Our Sentra was a car that we had purchased on a "buyback" program. The deal is that we could sell it back to Wilhelm's Auto at the conclusion of our year in South Africa, provided that it was returned in the same condition we received it. That obviously can't happen. So, I'll meet with them on Monday to discuss next steps.
Check out the pictures of the wreck below. I took these with my old cell phone, so the quality is poor and the size is small. But, you can still get a sense for what happened. It was pretty bad.
As we should be every day, we're very thankful for and aware of God's grace and protection today.
--Matt
