A costly experience

Thank God for granting me the strength to finish my first research essay at regent. Final word count: around 2400. Some may not think this as such a big deal, but to myself, it is a big leap; for Writing has never been my strengths. Recalling from AbbyMama, "Regent is the place to train you and change you." I'll learn to face my weaknesses with the grace from God.

I had a minor car accident on Friday. It was a rainy evening. I was driving along with Connie and Abby to a gathering. The traffic was slowly moving and I kept a safe distance with the car in front. However, as I was pressing a few buttons on my GPS (Global Positioning System) to find my way, I suddenly realized the car in front of us had stopped. We were about 4 metres away from it and we were driving at around 40km/h. I slammed the brakes. But the road was slippery and our tires were locked up. Our car slid forward. My instincts told me this would not be a good sign. There were cars on our sides and there was no way out. All I could do was a silent prayer to God as I watched our car slowly approaching the one in front of us. "Bump." There wasn't a great shock. Our car just made a contact with the one in front of us. Without much time to worry, I quickly got out of the car in the rain to see the damage. The driver and another passenger came out. In a judging tone, the passenger questioned, "Were you sleeping, man?" I couldn't help much, but could only meekly apologize for what had happened. It was not a big accident, so we then pulled off the road to settle the matters.

I hit a newly leased Mercedes Benz. Luckily, I could say, that there was only a tiny dent due to a nut from my license plate. There were minor scratches too. I quickly phoned my friend, Andrew, to ask for advice. I knew it was my fault, so I assured to the unlucky driver that I would take the responsibility. We would need to report to ICBC (the car insurance agency in Vancouver) about the incident. We exchanged phone numbers and details of our license and then we left. As soon as we arrived at our friend's house, I quickly filed in the case with ICBC. Later, the driver phoned me and told me that he would get his car estimated for damage in an autoshop during the weekends.

It turned out that I would have to pay $500 for repairing the damage. It's an expensive lesson to learn. However, I thank God for the accident was not too serious. I thank God that no one was injured and we found no damage in our car.

I'll meet with the driver tomorrow to finalize the case. I pray that things will go well. Please remember our safety in the coming winter as we have to drive in slippery snowy conditions too. I'm now driving with much alert and cautious.