Driving down the motorway last Thursday I rather unexpectedly found myself in a car crash on the way home from school. I write this from hospital with a dose of whiplash and a bagful of experiences I never imagined I’d have, especially following my last post about driving.
Now that I’ve had a chance to rest and mend and think, it’s about time I sorted out what happened and what I learned from the whole thing. In the interest of keeping things short I’m breaking this down into a few posts, starting here with what actually happened. I want to dedicate separate posts to the good and the ugly sides of having an accident in Korea.
It turns out being in a road accident is a scary experience. Doing it in a foreign country is really terrifying!
I was driving back from work a little later than usual last Thursday evening. As I rounded the long curve to the Haeng-ju bridge intersection on Freedom Road the traffic suddenly began to slow. I reduced my speed from the limit of 90km/h to about 70, but the guy behind me didn’t quite manage the same.
Instead, his car connected with mine and propelled it forward to however fast he had been going, leaving the back of our poor little Matiz with a sore behind and the front of his much more expensive SM5 with a beautifully crumpled bonnet.
My, what a lovely dent you have.
It was obscenely lucky that on such a busy road he managed to propel me directly forward, and that neither of us veered off course or collided with another, but stopped mid-lane with no further damage.
The onlookers took a brief moment to assess the danger before forming slow streams either side of us.
I don’t know how but I instantly remembered someone telling me that if you are in a crash the first thing you should do is turn your engine off. Apparently a running engine can be taken legally as a hit and run, though it could hardly have been less the case in this instance. Nevertheless the first thing I did was turn the engine off. Then I put the hazard lights on.
It occurred to me that something must have hit me quite hard. I vaguely remember my neck aching, though this soon disappeared to be replaced with a growing shakiness.
I narrowly missed the passing cars as I forced open the car door and got out to assess the damage. There was a sizeable dent in each of our vehicles, and as the other guy wasn’t getting out of his car I went over to make sure he was alright and even enquired in very polite, though increasingly wobbly, Korean to that effect.
He didn’t say much. I thought this strange, as he should have seen the crash coming and must have been somewhat ready for it. I was sure I must’ve been more injured than him. He continued his silence as I took down his details and thought about what to do next.
What is the first thing you’d think to do after having an accident in a foreign country? I chose to call my wife.
I wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of dealing with this situation alone and naturally wanted some reassurement. My wife didn’t seem so reassured to hear about what had happened. However, she told me to call my insurance people and tell them everything that had happened. I tried this and was met with an unclear Korean voice pouring forth a list of extensions for me to choose between. I gave up on this for the time-being.
Meanwhile the other chap had ventured out of his car and was calling his insurance people, when the wrecker trucks arrived to clear the road. I can’t remember anyone having called for them, but they were on the scene really fast. The road was clear in no time, and we went about trying to resolve things on the hard shoulder.
Unfortunately my story didn’t match the other man’s, as he claimed I had switched lanes before him causing him to fly into the back of me. I was shaking and in enough shock to manage only a brief defense of my good driving in bad Korean, but it was enough for the police and insurance people (there was quite a crowd on scene by now) to take us to the police station to resolve things.
To cut out a lot of waiting and worrying and form filling, the police decided that there was no way I’d changed lanes given the evidence, and even if I had the other man should have had time to see me and adjust his speed. His insurance company got footed with 100% of the bills.
My wife and mother-in-law managed to join me at the police station just in time to hear the final moments of the verdict, and joined me in my relief at how well things turned out all things considered.
Really, to have had an accident going that fast on a busy motorway and end up with nothing but mild whiplash and a sore car is unspeakably fortunate.
That the other guy has paid for my hospitalisation, car repairs, rental car while our car is in the garage, and whatever compensation I get has made the whole affair really quite bearable.
The only thing that has stayed with me during my stay in hospital is that this whole thing was completely out of my power. Some random guy’s careless driving meant that I missed a week of perfect spring weather, and have been receiving physiotherapy for an injury which has been known to last years.
I can’t imagine how much harder this would’ve been had my Korean skill been any lower. Having an accident is enough without having to try to understand and explain what’s going on.
All I can say is “that’s life”. You just have to take what it throws at you and get on with things.
Cunning Culture 