The (Dreadful) DAY! – Part 2

As soon as I left the Manggahan Bridge in Pasig, a lady crossed the street. She was looking the other way and probably didn’t realize that I was speeding towards her. I swerved and tried to avoid her but she was accidentally sideswiped by my sidemirror. She was hit rather heavily that the glass of my vehicle’s sidemirror shattered as it snapped. The car’s velocity was such that I couldn’t possibly slow down immediately from the time I saw her to the time of impact. It was impossible to do so. Nevertheless, I hit her. That was all that mattered at the moment. From my rear view mirror I saw the lady slumped in the middle of the road. The impact caused her to fall hard.

We both went to the Barangay Hall (which happened to be just meters away) and filed a report. She was crying and I was apologizing continuously. Regardless of why I hit her or if she was or wasn’t looking at where she was going was beside the point now. She got hit. And in the Philippines, it is stated by law that when a vehicle hits a pedestrian on the street, it is ALWAYS the driver of the vehicle that is responsible for the mishap. Even if a street urchin looking for a quick buck intentionally throws himself into the front of a speeding car, as unfair as it may be, it’ll still be the vehicle’s fault.

I was hoping very hard that she would not press charges. No one wants to get into an accident, right? Nobody wanted this to happen. It unfortunately just did. I offered to take her to the hospital to have her checked and to shoulder all hospital expenses. She was crying the whole time and wasn’t talking too much. This silence was making me worry… I didn’t know if she was planning to file a complaint after the checkup or to just forgive me.

An X-Ray was taken to check if she had any fractures. Since the radiologist wasn’t present and would be reporting to work the following day, the resident doctor was the one who read the X-Ray chart. The doctor saw no serious injuries which, in turn, made me breathe a little easier. Her cousin arrived shortly afterwards and we spoke. He explained that they will not file any complaint just as long as the medical expenses are taken care of and she is formally cleared by the radiologist’s X-Ray reading tomorrow.

I was scared shit. I mean… I’ve been into accidents before… I’ve rolled inside my car a few years back and totaled my vehicle… I’ve almost been accidentally shot by a friend who was cleaning a gun beside me… but never have I hit a person like this in my entire life. To almost have killed a human being.

I don’t know how to end this post. I’ll probably just end it by thanking that lady and her companions for being so understanding and considerate. For not being opportunistic. And for realizing that we all didn’t want to get into this terrible situation. My apologies again and my utmost gratitude.