Accidents do Happen

[Before i begin, no, this does NOT have anything to do with Babies. =P]

last wednesday, after writing the last post, the SU Youth Team went for a SCF meeting in Sri Cahaya school. i drove the office van. the topic was about Heaven and Hell. this SCF is quite unique because the majority of the members are non-christians... so it was a good chance to challenge them to think about issues of eternity.

well, we had a good time with the students... and then on the way back, there was a minor accident.

the road was narrowing and i was caught in between a cement mixer on my left and another vehicle on my right. i thought that i could squeeze through in time, but i was wrong.

there was a shocking, screeching sound and the van was shaken and slipped a little off course. the van's butt had collided with the cement mixer's head.

we stopped by the side of the road, and i got down to see how bad it was. the back of the left panel was scratched and dented, and the metal piece next to the left rear wheel was torn and bent backwards. also, the left tail-light and signal light was knocked out of its' socket and was hanging by its' wires.

as for the cement mixer, the step-thingy that the driver has to step on to get into his seat was bent all the way to the front.

at first, the other guy said we should go to a police station to make a report. so we tailed him for a few hundred metres. then, he stopped by the side of the road again and we followed suit. he'd changed his mind and suggested that we just settle it without making a police report. so i gave him a certain amount of money - i'm almost certain that it was too much, but i wasn't in a very argumentative mood at the time - and we went off to our respective destinations.

i felt pretty bad after this accident. it's not the first time either - there was a similar incident on the way to taiping earlier this year. but that was a near miss; this time i made contact.

reasons or excuses why this happened:
1. the van is longer and wider than a car. my judgement was skewed.
2. the van doesn't the same acceleration power as a car. so, thought i could make it through but i couldn't.

my initial reactions:
1. i am an idiot when it comes to driving.
2. i should avoid driving whenever possible for the safety of my colleagues and other vehicles on the road, not to mention my pocket.

my boss and The Wife do not agree with my initial reactions. therefore, i have modified them thus:
1. i am inexperienced and not very skilful when it comes to driving, especially vehicles that i'm not familiar with.
2. i have to train myself to be more careful when driving and exercise better judgement in future.

well... thank God that no-one was injured in that minor accident. it's a wake-up call to me to learn to drive better. the question is, how?!? i need to get more experience. and experience is potentially life-threatening, in this case. which was why i initially thought i'd avoid driving at all costs. but that can't be done either because the other team members aren't drivers (yet - some are preparing to take their driving tests) and so i have to drive! aarrrgh!

my driving experience was mostly in sitiawan, where most road are only 2 lanes wide (this was before the advent of pizza hut, mcDonalds, secret recipe, seven eleven, and wider roads in my once sleepy little hometown) and there are no roundabouts. compared to the idyllic drives i had there, driving in pj/kl is a nightmare. so many lanes! and so many cars/lorries/buses! help!!!

and it doesn't help that i have a lousy sense of direction. i can get lost in shopping malls, never mind getting from point A to point B.

but, enough excuses and complaints. i will do my best to pick up this skill and gain wisdom in this area. please pray with me that no-one will be injured or killed in the process. Amen.