38.Our Collision

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon we were driving back home after visiting Heather. The North circular was busy but flowing. Around 5 pm [it was getting dark] at Telford Road a car emerged quite fast from a side road on our right - Bexhill Road. It did not slow at the exit from the side road, nor for the traffic on our side, which it clearly wanted to join. I braked and swerved into the adjacent lane to my left. But it was not enough. My front right wing collided with his front left wing. Our tyre burst and the metal wheel was deformed [see photo]. His car had similar damage on his front left wing and wheel.

Neither car was drivable, and the stranded cars had narrowed the gap for traffic from 3 lanes to one single lane. The traffic in both directions slowed to a trickle - a major blockage. We were quite shaken, but had the presence of mind to ask 2 of the passing drivers who had seen the collisin to give us their particulars. And Judith exchanged names, addresses and car numbers with the other driver.

Someone phoned the Police but despite their sirens and blue light, it took them about half an hour to reach us through the blockage. At the time Judith was OK. [Only later did she report an ache in the front of the chest - clearly from the seat belt. There was no increased pain on breathing or coughing or movement, and I could find no bruising, and no tenderness suggestive of an injured rib / costal cartilage. I thought that our GP was very unlikely to order an Xray, and there were no tangible medico-legal implications or need for treatment.] I told the police who arrived, that nobody had been injured, whereupon they were only interested in directing the North Circular traffic past us, into alternate flows. They took no particulars and did not issue us with a reference number [as our insurer asked about next day]. Some 10 minutes later another police car arrived - to tow each of the 2 cars into the side road and free the North circular for its normal traffic. They advised everybody to exchange particulars - which we had already done.

We phoned the RAC and it took them another full hour, or so, to reach us. It was getting cold, but luckily it did not rain. Our car was loaded onto the RAC's transporter lorry and we rode home in his cab, as we were insured to do. He had a SatNav which navigated very well. Due to parked cars, he had to unload the car in the road, in order to drive it into our forecourt. But first he changed the damaged wheel for our spare - and this is shown in the photo above. We later heard that it is illegal to drive on a damaged wheel - even though it was a distance of just 5 metres.

The other driver had phoned not the RAC or AA but his insurer. They also loaded his car, but took it to a nearby parking lot overnight. They had not asked for trasportation, as they had been visiting friends in Bexhill Road. We could have done likewise, contacting our insurer, but by chance we chose the better option by letting the RAC get us straight home to deal with the aftermath.

We had notified Heather while we were waiting for the police. Once home, we phoned her again, and she sent a text message to Ruth, who was playing badminton. There was no [human voice ] reply from Daphne, nor the following morning, so I sent them an email.

We are friendly with the Nejads, who bought house no. 32 from us. We hold their key for their children, when they forget theirs. And they still forward out-of-date mis-addressed mail - nowadays just begging letters. As we waited for the police, who should greet me but Hamid, who had driven past and recognized the car. He had stopped and offered help, and to take us home. But with our RAC insurance there was no need, and I knew that it would take much longer - as it did.

Later in the evening I contacted my insurers [24 hours line] and started the ball rolling. They phoned back during Monday morning, taking all the details by phone. They arranged a visit from the chosen repairer. He arrived in the afternoon and took pictures and details. Tomorrow [Tuesday] we shall hear whether the estimated cost of the repair exceeds the current value of our 11-year old car - in which case the insurer will remove it and just pay us the current value. We are entitled to a replacement car - our insurer had put us in touch with their recommended hire firm, which is different from the repairer - but I suspect it will only be free, if the other driver's insurer admits liability. We shall sort it out.

We are also waiting to hear whether the other driver's insurer is accepting liability - it appeared to us, and to our insurer, to be so. They will obtain the evidence of our witnesses next and let us know.

It could have been worse - or better?