5 THINGS THIS WISE MOM LEARNED FROM A CAR ACCIDENT

This is a true story:

I woke up on one October morning, to the persistent ringing of my phone.  I pulled myself up from the bed, with eyes half closed, when I suddenly heard my daughter’s voice on the end of the line.

“Mama... nabangga kami.”

I felt like I was jolted by a dozen lightning, in an instant, my sleepiness gone and I was on a panic mode. But I tried to be calm while I bombarded my daughter with these series of questions.

“Where are you?  Are you ok?  Is Kristan ok?  Where is papa?  Can I talk to him?  What happened to the car?”

My daughter passed the phone to my husband, who is in a middle of a conversation with a traffic enforcer.  According to my husband, they were just slowly cruising along Commonwealth Avenue, when this delivery truck came and cut them from the left side.  

He was driving at the 3rd lane from the sidewalk when the delivery truck on the 4th lane which is at his left, made an abrupt right turn. His reason was for doing the right turn in the middle of the road was he was going to the entrance way of Shopwise.

Driver apparently had no sleep yet and looked overworked.  What irked me the most, according to the traffic enforcer’s report, it was really the delivery driver’s fault, but the driver did not want to admit it.  

Shots from the traffic enforcer's camera

The owner of the delivery truck came after 3 hours.  We settled everything in the police station. Owner said he will pay for the damage. 

We got our vehicle a month after. We suffered by losing our lone service vehicle for one month.  The day we met the accident, me and my husband didn’t report for work, my son missed school.  It was such a headache.

Up to now, whenever my phone rings in the morning.... I remember this incident and I still panic a bit.  

This post is not only for you my dear readers, but this is a a reminder for me too. Especially that my teens now are dropping the hints that they want to take some driving lessons already.  I just want our roads to be safe for our children's sake:

So as a mom, these are the things I learned from this experience.  

1. Always have a camera or a phone with a camera when you travel and drive. When the accident happened, there was no available camera on hand to document what transpired.  My husband's phone was camera-less.  A dashboard cam nowadays is really a necessity!
2. Always wear seat belts.  Good thing my children were wearing seatbelts and they were not injured in the process.  Although, they were injured emotionally because my daughter cried after the accident, when she reached school.  It traumatized her a bit.  She’s ok now.
3. Always be alert on the road.  You will never know when accidents may happen. No to texting or calling while driving.  You will never know when and where you will collide with a driver who have not slept for days or under the influence of drugs. You just have to be alert and be on guard.
4. And because you don’t know when accidents may happen, you should always be ready.  How?  Get a car insurance. So you will not panic, in case you get into an accident and need financial assistance.  I admit, we do not have a comprehensive insurance coverage.  But as we are planning to buy a new car, I might as well do a lot of research on insurance.  I found a valuable tip on moneymax.ph.  

"Choose a cheaper car.  Insurers consider the make and model of your car as indicators for repair and replacement costs. The more expensive your car is, the higher you pay for your premiums. If you are yet to buy car insurance and wish to lower the cost, you might want to consider buying a more economic vehicle." 

5. And lastly, in hindsight.... I learned that I cannot control everything. Being the control freak that I am, what I really control in life is very limited. It taught me that as much as I might try to plan things out and be in control all the time, sometimes things won’t go my way. I need to be better about accepting the things that come my way that I didn’t plan for. And still be a better person after.

And I want a BETTER road and driving life, for me and my family that is why I am entering in this Moneymax.ph's Dashboard Giveaway".   For all your concerns on car insurance, money matters and loans, please visit  http://www.moneymax.ph/