A holiday accident

Nobody is happy to have a road accident, especially on holiday in another country. But the very definition of 'accident' is something that happens unexpectedly and is out of our control.

Car accident

We are enjoying a relaxing week in Madeira, but yesterday evening we had a car accident. Nobody was hurt and the damage was light, though it could have been much worse because we were travelling at high speed.

It was a great blessing to find that the other driver was kind and calm and speaks good English. Donna and I don't speak Portuguese, Donna has a little Spanish and we both have a little French, but beyond that it's just 'please' and 'thank you' in a series of other languages.

So what happened? We were driving quite fast, though within the speed limit, heading west on the island's main route approaching Funchal, the capital. I was driving in the right-hand lane and the car we collided with was coming up behind us in the left-hand lane. On a joining slip-road just ahead, two cars were waiting.

One or both started to pull out at the last moment and I swerved left to avoid a high-speed rear shunt. That would have been a really serious accident and I'm so glad we avoided it. But we touched the car that was overtaking us, a side by side impact at nearly the same speed. It was not the other driver's fault, and it was not my fault; we avoided a serious accident and had a minor one as a result.

We both pulled over, then agreed to drive on to somewhere safer to fill in the accident forms. Patricia (who was driving the other car) wrote it all out in Portugese and there were no disagreements about what had happened. We phoned our car hire company and agreed that on Friday, before flying home, we will take in our copy of the accident report.

I would never choose an accident as a way to meet someone, but Patricia was friendly and likeable and we parted very amicably. If we approach life in the right way, good things can come even through bad experiences.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)