Badly banged-up Beemer

There I was driving in the middle of the Gulf Road, humming to James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” playing on the stereo when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a speeding burgundy-colored BMW on the outer side swerving to my lane. The first thing that went through my mind was: What the f@#*! was this guy trying to do? In a split second, it became apparent that he was trying to turn left at the traffic light which was just some 10 meters away. “Oh no!”, I thought and realized with dread that I was going to hit him!

Without even thinking, my feet slammed on the brakes as my hands locked on the steering wheel at the 11:20 position. Glancing at my rearview mirror, I could see smoke coming from behind me as the tires locked on the asphalt and burned rubber. The squealing sound was soon followed by the sickening crash of metal as the Pajero plowed into the front left-hand side door of the Beemer. I could clearly see the driver’s panic-stricken face, eyes bulging and mouth wide open in a silent scream. The impact threw my head backwards but my line of sight clearly saw what was going on. The car that I hit jumped into the other side of the intersection where traffic was just beginning to move. A Yukon SUV banged into the right-hand side of the BMW which catapulted backward and was hit on the trunk by an oncoming Mercedes before coming to rest perpendicular to the oncoming traffic which all stopped amidst screeching sounds.

Site of intersection; date palm trees awaiting Pajero

All this must have taken less than three seconds. It all seemed to me like a slow-motion action scene in a movie. Except that this was for real.

I ended up right in the middle of the intersection just a few inches away from the gutter of the landscaped island which the Pajero would have climbed and rammed into a date palm tree had I braked a couple of milliseconds late. I was shaking uncontrollably as I hastily lifted the handbrake and punched the emergency flasher. The engine was still idling as I slowly got down and checked if I had any injury. There was none except for a bloody lip which I must have bitten accidentally. Thank God, the driver whose car I hit was still alive. For an instant, I really thought that he was a goner, killed as a result of the reckless stunt that he pulled. The German car manufacturer should be lauded for its side bar safety features because even though the car was banged up pretty badly, the motorist was still alive. Other people were helping him out of the door which sprang open and led him to the grassy island under a tree. Automatically, I glanced at my watch: it was 10:41AM, Thursday, 18 May. The front right side of my car’s bonnet slightly caved in along with the front bar breaking both headlamp and signal light but otherwise, there wasn’t, surprisingly, much damage.

Somebody must have summoned the police for in less than 5 minutes, a patrol car with flashing lights came. One cop started asking questions while the other went to direct traffic that was all backed up on one side of the road. The Kuwaiti driver of the Yukon wearing a dishdasha was giving his account of the incident while the Mercedes guy was handing over his license. The cop asked who was the owner of the red Pajero and I acknowledged him by giving my license as well. He started asking each one of us our version of what happened as he scribbled on a piece of paper.

Meanwhile, an ambulance arrived and a paramedic came over to the Lebanese BMW driver who was by now lying against the tree trunk drinking mineral water offered by somebody. It was surprising where all these kibitzers came from – they seemed to have materialized from nowhere. The ambulance guy started moving the extremities of the poor fellow, first the legs then the arms. He had some bruises on his left arm and he was pointing at his ribcage. Probably it hurt from the concussion which may have broken some ribs since that part of his body absorbed the full impact of the door. They took him to the hospital and I saw him limping a bit as he got on the ambulance.

Slight damage to the side bonnet, bumper and grille

The Yukon and BMW were later hauled away to the nearby police station since both were badly smashed up. The Mercedes had a big dent on its radiator but, otherwise, it could still run. The three of us gave an account again of what transpired to the desk sergeant who sketched the positions of the cars and took our licenses. He told us to appear at the traffic court within the next two days to get our insurance claims after they had assigned who was to blame. And that was that.

As I drove away, I couldn’t help but wonder how such a lovely morning could end up so tragically all because of one man’s stupidity. The BMW driver was clearly trying to beat the red light to turn left from the wrong lane and in so doing, miscalculated his speed and distance. I became his unwitting victim and almost his executioner. In my years of driving, this was the first major accident I’ve been involved with. Three times, through no fault of mine, I got bumped from the rear but they were minor fender benders. This one was pretty scary. Thank goodness I was driving my wife’s big SUV that day. Had I normally been driving my small Peugeot 206, it could have been me who ended up in the hospital or worse.

Just goes to show no matter how careful a driver you are, you can never be a hundred percent sure of your safety on the road. As in most things in life, I take it philosophically: if your number’s up, then that’s it.