3 car accident

I've been scanning all my documents from the previous years so that I could get rid of all the paper (shred and throw them away). Of course, I am still keeping the more important documents. This personal project has been going on for quite a while now.

I'm now up to 2005 and came across the documentation that I still have for a car accident that I was involved in. It was the other drivers' fault (everybody claims this, I guess, heehee). We were stopped at a red light (for at least 10 seconds when the accident happened), my car was first in line, another car driven by an old lady was behind me. A van came hurtling through and just rammed into the lady behind me and the lady's car rammed into mind. The driver of the van didn't even stop. I'm not sure if he lost his brakes or whether dozed off and didn't notice the light but he sure lost control of his van.

Thankfully, I wasn't alone. My friends and I stepped out of our car and talked to the lady in the vehicle behind ours. She was extremely agitated and more so when she realized that her car had been damaged that she couldn't get her car door open anymore.

While we were making sure that the old lady was okay, the van driver tried to sneak away. Yeah, sneak.

My guy friend saw him go into reverse and maneuver his van so that he could drive away. My friend stepped in front of his van and stopped him. Friend kept an eye on him until the police officers arrived.

My car didn't suffer too much damage, just dents in my bumper but my friends and I were very much shaken. My back hurt for months after the accident. I wanted to sue the van driver and get some compensation but the process was too difficult. I remember playing phone tag with the driver's lawyer and his insurance company for the next several weeks. I also took a day off from work in order to look for the precint that covers the accident site to get an accident report. I had to track down witnesses... argh!

In retrospect, I should've gotten a lawyer to file my claim, after all there are groups such as Accident Claims UK that provide such accident compensation services.

I know better now. Not that I'm looking forward to getting an accident in the future, but it pays to be informed. The next time this happens (to me or someone I know), I'll make sure that the people involved are informed about their rights and take the necessary steps to make sure that their interests are protected.