My domestic partner, Nuria, hates to drive at night. She has told her employer again and again that she can't work late because she doesn't want to drive home after dark. Nevertheless, they seem to constantly require her to work until after nightfall.
Last night Nuria was again driving home in the dark when BANG! ... she collided with another car. Here's what happened.
The night was dark. Nuria stopped at a stop sign, looked both ways, and proceeded to make a left turn to drive to my house which was located only about 100 feet from the intersection. Suddenly her car was hit by another vehicle. The other vehicle was being driven by an intoxicated individual who was driving with headlights off. Not being able to see his car in the darkness, Nuria had inadvertently pulled in front of him, The other driver tried to pass Nuria's Toyota on the right, but grazed her Toyota's right front fender. Both drivers got out of their vehicles and inspected the damage. Then Nuria ran to my front door to call the police. When I answered the door, Nuria ran into the house muttering some letters and numbers repeatedly. She was repeating the license plate number of the other car. She didn't have a pen to write it down until she got inside my house, and she didn't want to forget the plate number. Meanwhile, the other driver left the scene.
The police came and took Nuria's information. Then the officer, armed with the license plate number, looked up the address of the other driver and then drove to his house to get his side of the situation. (The other driver lives two streets from my house.) Then the officer returned. He said the other driver was indeed drunk, but claimed to have only gotten drunk after he got home. The officer printed out a police report for the insurance company (he assigned blame for the accident to the intoxicated driver who was driving with no headlights), and he gave Nuria a copy of the report for her insurance company.
The officer left and, for a while, our conversation was about Nuria's accident. The Toyota's damage consists mainly of scrapes on the vehicle's right front fender. It certainly could have been worse. But matters slowly settled and returned to normal. Now it remains for Nuria to have her car repaired, and that will likely be a story with further adventures.
1 comment:
Greetings
What a horrible thing to happen -- she surely showed a lot of courage stopping her car at night. I don't think I could have done that -- one tip -- use your cell phone to text the info to yourself or pop it in "Notes" for future reference when trying to remember something like that. I do that when I want to put something on my shopping list but know I'll forget it.
I'm so glad she was not hurt or even intimidated by the other driver. It certainly could have been a lot worse -- but wow --still --how scary and now the pain of the insurance company. At least the police sound like they were helpful and awarded her the papers to follow up in her favor.
This incident has helped me make a decision regarding a club I attend at night -- for several years now I have not wanted to drive to it when it's so dark. I have missed the turn and the route is not always clear or even marked with lines. At one time someone speeding nearly T-boned myself and my young grandson. It shook me to the core -- forget me --but what if he was hurt? And the club is a good ways away -- so no more attending when I can't get a ride or when it's daylight.
These things come out of nowhere --- so the best thing to do is stick to ones guns around the type of driving we wish to avoid. I have club members who pressure me into attending saying "we are older than you and we drive in the night"........it's true -- but that's them and not me.
I hope she will stick to her guns asap about night driving --- and let her boss know she means business---don't let them bully you or make you feel badly if you don't want too.
Good luck -- I hope the car isn't going to be too bad to fix up. Just glad it's not you that needs the fixing up !!
Best, LL
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