OOPS, AND BUMPS AND DAISY

I was out today visiting friends and other things to be done and there are a lot of narrow lanes around here. Not only that but the roads are becoming dangerous with large and deep potholes which are hidden in pools of water.
Anyway I crossed over a narrow stone bridge in a Village called Church Minshull this afternoon and almost immediately had to stop as somebody had placed a Traffic Cone in the middle of my lane. I couldn't go around it as there was oncoming traffic and the lane was even narrower where I'd had to stop. Just as I was thinking of getting out of the car there was an almighty Bang and I was thrown forward as the car behind me smacked into the rear of my car.
I was not a Happy Chappy as I got out of my car expecting to see real damage to it and with the intent of giving the other driver some ear ache. To my surprise there was no damage to my car or the front of his, but as he got out of his car he pointed to the rear of his. A lady, driving a MG, had failed to stop and crunched straight into the back of his car and then shunted his car into mine with the force of the crash. Her car was a mess and so was the rear of his, I was lucky to have just been moved slightly forward. The driver behind me knew why I had stopped as he had seen the Traffic Cone and had also stopped easily in time.
While this is going on the cars behind us were driving past the scene, after one of them had removed the Traffic Cone. What followed was out of Keystone Cops as five cars that drove past us also drove into the pool of water where the Traffic Cone had been placed......and all five stopped 75 yards up the road with both front and rear tyres on the passenger side punctured. The pool of water was disguising a really big and deep pot hole with something on the bottom that made mince meat out the tyres. Mr Plod was on the scene as he was coming the other way and saw the cars on the side of the road but didn't realise that there was a bump just 75 yards up the road. It wasn't until he came to ask me to move on to clear the road and I told him what had happened that he realised there was a pair of crunched cars.
The Traffic Cone had been placed in the middle of the lane for good reason, as the drivers of the five cars with two wrecked tyres apiece can testify but it shows how dangerous and dilapidated our roads are becoming.
The Lady driver of the MG said she had braked but had just slid into the car in front of her. Luckily, nobody was injured and everyone kept their cool and names and addresses were exchanged politely. Since I had no damage to my car and the reason why I had to stop was clear and acknowledged by both drivers I went on my way......but I confess I still felt guilty although I had no choice but to stop and the guy behind me had also stopped safely.
So the motto is "Be safe out there, and if you can avoid driving into pools of water as there might be a wheel/tyre wrecking pot hole under it.

 

Jack is spot on Armandii - get your car properly checked at the earliest opportunity; between crumple zones and multi-link rear suspension, they are complex beasts nowadays.

Glad no-one was injured.

 

Thanks Jack and FC. My car is booked in for a servicing etc in the first week of January with the local Garage that has looked after my cars for the last 30 years. I rang them this afternoon and told them what had happened and Brian the Mechanic said he'll check everything for me. They always go over my car with a "fine tooth comb" and will adjust/repair/replace anything without even asking me as they know I always say "yes, get it done". It's nice to have a Garage you can trust for good service and honesty, they're getting rarer these days.

 

I'm fine thanks, Mum. I had undone my seat belt as I was just about to get out of the car to check why the Traffic Cone was there and then hopefully move on. But before I could raise a hand to the door there was that almighty bang and I was jolted forwarded against the Steering Wheel. As I said earlier it wasn't the driver behind me fault but the driver behind him who shunted him into me. I had seen in my mirror that the car behind me had stopped easily so it might have be two or three seconds before the crunch happened. I was so very surprised that there was no visible damage to the car, which hadn't had a good year. Back in May just before Shiney's Open Day it was hit in the rear while on a main road by a driver who pulled out of a side road and later confessed that he never looked to his right "because he didn't have to" You can imagine how I felt at my car being rammed in the rear twice in one year I have something like 30 years no claim bonus so I very rarely get into a scrape but twice in one year!!!

 

I hope there are no after effects and that you have a good holiday period. Mrs Shiney sends her best wishes

 

Thanks all, I could say I'll put it all down to experience, but I've had enough "experiences" in Life as it is!! I think I was more "outraged" in being bumped twice in a year and due to no fault of mine own , especially as I have managed to stay bump free for such a long time.