One Fine Day

This happened more than a year back and I started this blog site when I was sitting in my room and typed the first post with just my left hand. So much for craziness. If you want to find out why I typed with a left hand, you have no choice other than reading on.

It was a clear summer day in Phoenix, AZ. It was an odd day because we did not have our car(a white Ford Escort 2001) which we had given to Bruce, the mechanic for repairing the transmission. It was a weekend and there were no groceries for the coming week in our room. So, we called up Sarma, who incidentally had got a Blue Kia Spectra 2006 model recently from his friend and asked him to help us with the week's shopping. So, Yours Truly, Siva & Suresh,Sarma & Dhruv started off to Asiana Market situated on 43rd Ave & Union Hills Drive. We generally go to Asiana Market to get rice, pickles, dal and any other Indian items. Incidentally, that week we needed to get rice so we went to that place. We had made quite a big purchase that day. Sarma was at the wheel of the car. We were coming out of the store and were heading to Fry's where we purchase the other groceries like milk, juices,etc.

Now, Sarma was a little new to driving on US roads. For all those, who are not aware, on US roads, it is right hand driving/left hand steering.There is a weird rule there that when taking a left turn, in certain junctions which are not busy, when it is Green for the person taking a left turn, it would be green for the person who is coming straight-on as well. The person who comes straight-on has the right of way to move first and the person taking the turn has to yield and then turn. Our friend, somehow had forgotten this rule or whatever happened I don't know but, this is what happened. He started to turn left and was in such a situation that he couldn't have come back. Every one of us(5 in all) could see an SUV coming from the other side. The driver of that car would have been drving at least at 45mph. And she had a right of way as she was coming striaght-on. We were not fast enough to move away before the SUV hit us. And HIT us it did on the right side. The impact of the hit was such that our car went and hit another car with the momentum which in turn got damaged in a major way.

And what about the poor souls inside the car? We couldn't even come out of the car because it was badly mangled. Suresh, couldn't move his two sides, I couldn't move one side & Dhruv was the worst hit. He was almost unconscious with blood coming out of his head. Siva & Sarma were free of any injuries, thankfully. Next thing we knew, a fire engine was on its way. The firefighters somehow pulled out of the debris of the car and put us all in the ambulance. I had previously seen these scenes only in a movie. Never had I thought in my wildest imagination that I would once be taken in an ambulance in front of so many people. Believe it or not, this was the thought in my mind when I was being taken in the ambulance. We were taken to an emergency room in a nearby hospital and X-Rays were taken. It was finally revealed that I had a minor collar-bone fracture. Suresh had broken both his collar-bones & Dhruv was put into ICU because of his situation. He had multiple fractures in his ribs, shoulders,etc. He later came back to India and I wouldn't like to discuss the situation in which he came back. Poor Siva ended up taking care of us for many many weeks after that incident. I was able to use only my left hand as the other hand was in a sling. After a week of rest, I started going to office but using only a single hand.

So, all those going to US in the near future, do remember to follow the road rules. Its very easy to drive in US but, following the rules is a must because of the speed at which people drive vehicles there.Even today, I can't help but thinking what could have happened if we hadn't given our car to Bruce, that day!!It was one hell of a day,literally & figuratively!!

PS:-I would be attaching the police report on this incident which is there on the internet as soon as I find it out. So, that would give a more visual picture of the accident to you :).