Crash-Course in Aquaplaning

A grey and overcast Saturday noon filled with indecision finally got us out of the house and in our car. Well the plan was still undecided but the steering having a mind of its own led us towards South City Mall. Well all the way, plans of watching a movie this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon or this evening or the next coupled with the want for proper Chinese food came to a crashing halt when I slammed the brakes on the car, in the middle of traffic on Prince Anwar Shah Road just shy of South City Mall, and it went sliding on the slippery surface of the drizzle soaked slime on the road and collided with the rear fender of a Mahindra Xylo.

Well that’s how instantaneous our accident was. We were in the middle of traffic one moment, waiting for it to move and the next second when it did move and I got the car in motion, I realized the traffic in our lane, and the car 20 feet ahead of me had stopped suddenly, so I slammed on the brakes too. But aquaplaning got the better of us. Though I knew my wheels had locked, I watched helplessly, turning the wheel as much to the left as I could, as the car went sliding towards the one in front of ours and then…BAM! The next thing I could see was the entire front right of my car crumpled up and inside the back left fender of the Mahindra Xylo. Well it was a big SUV, and as I tried to open the door to get out and see the damage, it was jammed, so there was only one thing to do, reverse the car and pull it to one side.

As I did that, that I noticed that the car in front of the Mahindra Xylo was a Tata Safari which he had rear ended; so none of the drivers actually came out to talk to me, seeing the most damage had been to my poor little SWIFT. Anyway, I got out through the passengers side after my wife and went ahead to assess the damage. It seemed quite severe and I noticed that the coolant container had also broken in the collision. In proper Kolkata style a crowd of people gathered to discuss the situation and in the shortest time, the other two cars drove off, realizing that they had just been scratched. We on the other, had to call the Garage and asked for a tow-truck to be sent. I wasn’t too sure about the condition of the right side wheel and didn’t want to take any chances driving from here to the Garage with a car in this condition.

So while we waited for the tow-truck, we got the low-down from one of the people who had witnessed the incident and he informed us that, none of the three cars involved in the accident were at fault as the vehicle which was at fault had long left the scene without realizing the damage it had caused behind. A Gas Tanker had stopped in the middle of traffic for no apparent reason leading to the pile up we were involved in. Since the tanker hadn’t been hit and wasn’t aware that it had caused a pile up behind, it drove off. Anyway that’s how accidents happen.

Finally our tow-truck arrived and as the driver assessed the damage, he informed us that the car would have to be lifted from the front and towed away. We inquired if we could ride in our car as it was being towed. He informed us that it wouldn’t be a problem if we didn’t mind a swaying and bumpy ride. No sir, no problem at all. How much worse could it be than crashing into another car? So he rigged the chains in front under the fender and then started hoisting the front of the car up till it was in place to be towed. Then my wife and I hopped into the back seat our car and off we went. Just in the nick of time too, because as we started to move, the rain came down. It was the strangest experience. Firstly I couldn’t remember riding in the back seat of our car and secondly at an angle that we were travelling, swaying and being bounced around.

We finally got to the Garage after the strangest joyride. I booked the car for repairs and said I would do the insurance paperwork on Monday. Well so much for us watching a movie… We were just in our own movie!

read on coz the story just gets better!