Butt-Crushed

Not mine but my car’s. Was caught in a three-vehicle mishap yesterday morning at the south superhighway, right in front of the Asia Pacific College near the Magallanes flyover going to EDSA. A jeepney was speeding down the skyway exit towards the highway when it crashed into a Nissan Terrano, which then crashed into the butt of our Honda Civic, crushing it beyond recognition. I already heard the jeepney hitting the terrano and the screeching as the terrano tried to brake to avoid slamming into us. Obviously though, the brakes didn’t catch soon enough and the grill-headed Nissan managed to hit us from behind. Fortunately, our car wasn’t closely tailing any other vehicle and so the front of the car was not damaged. Manong also didn’t need to step on the brakes like the driver of the terrano did, otherwise we would have skidded in circles on the highway which would have been an even more dangerous thing.

The terrano had already skidded to the left from the impact, for some miraculous reason though it avoided hitting the other vehicles in the highway. The jeep on the other hand slammed into the wall at the side of the highway, its right wheel tilted up against the barrier. The passengers ran out of the jeep but the driver wasn’t able to move because apparently his arm and lower body were trapped inside against the steering wheel.

It only took a few more moments when highway patrol policemen came, there were around four or five. They were quite efficient and quick-moving, I am pleased to note. In a few minutes, an ambulance already whizzed past us carrying the driver and the passengers of the jeepney, all of whom reportedly had cuts and/or bruises. In less than twenty minutes the place was cleared, the jeep was towed, and manong with our civic and the other party with the Nissan terrano already started heading back to the police station at bicutan (where we came from, incidentally).

Until today, the police hasn’t gotten a statement yet from the driver. I was told he was generally okay, and only his arm was broken. We don’t know yet how much the wreck is gonna set us back—the way it looks, manong says it might be better if we just bought a new car, and what are the chances of that happening, huh? We can’t have the car fixed until the jeepney driver is able to make a statement and a proper estimate of the damages is made. Until then, I am car-less. Hello MRT! Hello FX! Hello endless taxicabs! Time to re-learn how to commute in Metro Manila—a skill I’ve forgotten since second year college.

No matter… I’m just STILL thankful that nobody was really hurt from this accident. And that our car wasn't the one sandwiched and that the terrano happened to be a sturdy vehicle. If it was our civic in the middle, who knows what would have happened to our car… and to us?! The Nissan Terrano with its heavy build, grills and all that jazz was already hit badly—what more my relatively frail Honda Civic sedan?