Car Accident

Juzie figured in a three car collision last Monday night. On a red light stop in front of Power Station in Macapagal Avenue an owner type jeep smashed into her car from behind and caused her to crash into the van in front of her. She suffers from partial hearing loss in her left ear and pain in the right part of her neck. It's a good thing she's religious about wearing a seat belt or else she'd have broken her face on the steering wheel.

Her rear bumper was damaged and we didn't notice the front license plate being loose so when we reached the LTO (Land Transportation Office) we found out it must have dropped away on the way there.

While waiting for the traffic enforcers and investigators to arrive Juzie and the other drivers didn't talk to each other but when the investigators did arrive the driver of the owner type jeep was quick to accuse the others and even raised his voice.

It took an hour for a traffic enforcer to arrive at the scene and another hour for investigators to get there. It took maybe 30 minutes for them to make an assessment of the situation and maybe 45 minutes to guide us to the LTO branch in Banilaw. The owner type jeep was leaking fluids when last we saw it so the driver was understandably late to the LTO by maybe an hour but he didn't bring the jeep. The LTO Officer took note of this and asserted maybe his jeep wasn't registered. On the way to the LTO Juzie's car made loud thrumming noises when the engine was doing low revolutions but not undergeared.

The LTO Officer determined that the driver of the owner type jeep as the person at fault and the driver of the van didn't press any charges. The van's driver when asked to fill out the form given by the LTO Officer went out for maybe 30 minutes. It turns out he didn't know how to write. The driver of the owner type jeep when asked to fill out his form asked in turn if he could borrow some eye glasses. I wanted to kill him.

Another LTO Officer took pictures of the damage to Juzie's car and the van. He asked for 190 Pesos as a fee. I thought these public servants were being paid through our taxes. We were told to come back Wednesday for the police report with the medical certificate in hand.

After the red tape at the LTO we went to UERMMC (University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center) for a check up. We were directed to the Emergeny Room as it was past 10 in the evening. Juzie was checked and xrayed (which waiting for took the better part of two hours) and diagnosed as having neck muscle strain. The xrays didn't show any fractures.

What's left now is to wade through bureaucratic muck to get a replacement license plate, the LTO police report, the insurance claim.

This is a reminder to people out there. It doesn't matter if you've trained yourself to be a good driver. You can be the most careful driver out there and a careless person can still hurt you.

Take care and give allowances for other's stupidity and carelessness.