STRANGERS on a ROAD

On Saturday 22 July Val and I were in a car accident in Hamilton. We were in a friend’s car driving through the intersection of Wairere Rd and Te Rapa Rd. The green light came on so we accelerated. Then it happened… a car on our right hand side ran their red light at speed. My friend Pete was driving. I yelled at him, “Watch out!” He had no time to brake and we smashed into the side of the other car. The car’s airbags inflated and we crunched to a halt. White acrid smoke began filling the car and we mistakenly thought the car was on fire. (The ‘smoke’ was the explosive charge from the airbags inflating). Noeline’s turn to yell, “I think the car is on fire. We have to get out!” 
We wrenched the doors open and stumbled out. Silence. Strangers ran towards us. Young men and women strangers. “You guys ok?” “We saw what happened.” They stayed with us for a short time before the police arrived. One of the police wasn’t a stranger. He looked at me and asked,   “Didn’t you teach at Hamilton Boys’ High School?” Thanks for asking Oliver. As you can see, Hamilton can be a small place, but in a positive sense. We were all interviewed at length and we all developed a new medical condition called ‘shakey legs’. Val has got extensive bruising and is sore, but has improved over the past few days. I should also mention that the people in the other car escaped with no serious injuries. Pete’s car is a ‘write off’ but the people involved aren’t.

POINTS to PONDER
Kind strangers came to help us. They made a choice to help. Thank you. For those few moments there was no ‘generation gap.’ The police were kind, professional and efficient in their dealings with us. Thank you. 
Why do bad things happen to good people? There is no definitive answer to this question, but what I do know is that we need to be kind while we can. In a split second, life is good and then it isn’t.
To Peter and Noeline. You are precious friends. We have been through so much together. Thank you for your kindness as you continually checked on Val and I and each other after the accident and during this past week.




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