The past 2 weeks have been slightly
nerve-wrecking with the number of accidents I was almost involved in, as well as the one I ended up in. It started on the 1st of May with the drive back from East Coast Park with Amy. First, it was
raining really heavily, so bad that most drivers were just driving into the carparks just to stop and avoid driving. Not only did the weather make it hard to drive, the
lack of lights there didn't help,
tree branches were dropping in the car's path and to make it worse, the
lightning was really scary. Anyway, I had to get back as I had work, and there was no use for Amy and I to stay in a car and talk anymore than we already had. So, even with the
fear of thunder breaking beside me, I drove Amy back to her place and almost had a mishap along Clementi. I had to brake a little harder than normal and with the wet road, and whatever crap was washed up on the wheels, the
brakes kinda squeaked and grunted a little just as we halted to a stop. I'm not sure if we skidded a little but it was enough for us to look at each other with surprise and fear.
After getting Amy back, I was driving along Clementi once again and I noticed something odd about the car that was stopped on the extreme right lane. It didn't seem like it had any trouble and the owner was there just looking at something but didn't seem frustrated that his car had failed him. Passing the car, I realised that
another car had somehow landed in the drain between the 2 roads, the bit right under the MRT line. How it got there I've got no idea and I didn't want to stop cos I wouldn't have been any help, and I didn't really know what else I could do since the ambulance was already there. Just passing the scene, I realised that it was just past that area where the car's brakes were grumbling about half an hour ago. That kinda creeped me out and I thought we were just lucky and blessed.
Next incident came about a week later when I was being driven to Vivo City. Everyone seemed to be in a rush to get somewhere and people were basically
cutting into each other's paths. Well I was calling my mom when I realised that the car before us had stopped and that the car I was in was still moving, and it just didn't have enough space to stop in time to just make it a small bump. Somehow I just
saw everything in slow motion, exactly like the things they do in movies, and all I told myself was to
brace for a hard knock, for the airbag to pop in my face, and for me and my friends to end up hurt. Oddly enough, nothing seriously bad happened to anyone in the car, though I still don't know what hit me in the face and chest at the same time. My mom answered the call just as we hit, and all I could tell her was that we just met with one and everyone's alright before ending the call. I was too shocked to say anything more and
my chest was also hurting for some odd reason, along with my cheek, and somehow I was
more interested trying to figure out how that happened instead of what's going on between the drivers. My friends left the scene to get to Vivo after a little assurance, as well as grumbling that they won't make it if they stayed through the whole thing. Shocking thing was to find out that
the damn car didn't even have airbags, and if there was one for the driver, it didn't even work. To think that the front was banged up pretty bad and all that saved us were the damn seatbelts, that wouldn't have worked if it occurred with higher speeds.
Even with the accident, it didn't spoil my plans to go up to KL and it was a good way to build up Mark's confidence level in driving after the previous day's incident. However, I think it actually
lowered my confidence in being a passenger.... That issue later.... Once in Melaka, I actually tried my hand at driving one night and almost met with another accident. Thank goodness the other driver was alert and managed to stop in time no to hit me from the side. Yeah, this one was my fault but that didn't stop me from continuing anyway. I got a feeling I scared the shit out of Mark though.
Finally it was the last incident that really got me shaken up. I met up with Amy again after my trip to Malaysia and took a cab back while she opted for a bus. Along the way, I saw the
accident at Kampng Bahru about to happen,
once again in slow mo. I was in the cab, which was behind the cab involved in the accident. Somehow my driver decided to overtake
that cab and I noticed this light coloured car turning at a speed that was a bit too fast and the car didn't seem to be making any effort to stop. All I could do was watch the car and hope that it didn't have a domino effect on the cab I was travelling in. I just saw it roll pass the stop line, where the lights were red ,and it was supposed to stop. Last thing I saw was that car halfway pass the stop line where my cab passes the point where I would have been in serious danger, and that was when I heard the car screeching to a halt. A little to late to stop in time, my cab passed the front end of the other cab just in time to hear the vehicles collide. My driver then just got us out of the way before anything else could happen and I was grateful for that. I wasn't even sure what occurred after the first hit until everything came out in the news the next day.
I got no idea why, but it seems like just before the accident I was in, I didn't like the way Mark was
getting a little too close to the other vehicles every time he stopped. Then after the accident, it's like every cab driver seems to be doing almost the same thing and it still doesn't sit well. It's not that I'm scared of being in another accident, and I don't intend to be in anymore, it's just that I don't get why they have to follow so closely
like dogs sniffing each other's butt. Or maybe it is just because of the lack of control as I'm not afraid to get behind the wheel of any car... well unless the damn thing has a retarded manual gear and no airbags.. and I know
I wouldn't risk driving like that.
Am I turning into a control freak?
