Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

Just about seventeen months after my little black car got side-swiped by a dangerously-driven Czech lorry on the M4, it's finally going in for repairs on Monday.

The wheels of insurance grind exceedingly slow.
New insurance company next year, I think...

...where marypcb and I are lucky to be here.

Driving down the M4 to Reading in heavy traffic (and heavy rain) this morning my car was side-swiped by a Czech juggernaut that hadn't seen me. The first I knew that he'd decided to pull out was the grinding noise as his protruding hub-cap removed the paint off the side of my car. That was the point where he realised I was there too, so luckily he swerved back into the inner lane. I managed to keep the car under control (there's a lot of kinetic energy in a 42 tonne truck - even if it is a glancing blow), avoided being pushed into the outer lane, and slowly and carefully pulled into the hard shoulder.

Here's where things got a little better. The truck pulled over too, so I didn't have to worry about trying to track down the driver across the EU. The driver came over to me as I looked at the scrape down the side of my car, and in fractured English apologised and admitted he hadn't seen me.

Ha! The one bit of good news in the whole thing, an admission of liability. Thankfully I had my camera with me, so I have pictures of the damage to my car, the truck that caused it, the driver of the truck, and his green card. The last is the most important, as it means I can get the repairs done without having to pay the excess.



My sad little car...



...and the hulking great lorry that swiped it...