Hit & Run

Empty roads lead to more disastrous accidents. Early this morning on my way back from the beach, I witnessed such an event. To make matters a little simpler to comprehend, I've made a diagram of the situation at the time.

Alright.. so now we have this young man on his bike taking his mother for the Eid prayers in the morning. At the crossroad, the van shown stopped to let the biker pass while a red Zen swerved in alongside in an attempt to overtake. The biker's line of sight was obstructed by the van. Now logic says that the red car should not have proceeded any further but as luck would have it, things went wrong. There was a deafening screech followed by a ghastly ripping sound and then silence. The front bumper of the red Zen was completely torn off. And the bike riders were dislodged from their vehicle. The young man slowly got to his feet, but soon fell to the pavement in shock. His mother didn't seem seriously wounded, but was obviously in pain. Bystanders rushed to help her. The thing that shocked me most was the attitude of the Zen driver.

This auntie as it turned out to be, was least bothered and drove off as if nothing happened. I found that horrifying to say the least. After following in hot pursuit, it was only a couple of km later that I got her to pull over. Instantly, I lashed out at her with a "No sense of civic duty" thrown in between sentences. All I got were obstinate replies of denial. Utter foolishness.

I understand its not easy to offer help with the local passersby ready to pounce on you when one is directly involved in an accident but at least the tactfulness will be unmistakable.

I hope I got my point across to her.