Categories: uncategorized
Date: 02 August 2005 23:40:56
It had to happen sooner or later, and this evening it did. It was my last lesson of the day and we had just got started. The pupil is someone who has had a fair few lessons and is perfectly competent in traffic. Well, he would have to be to negotiate the junction we were approaching.
There is a notorious crossroads in Tooting. I only take pupils there when they have demonstrated that they have the ability and the confidence to cope with it.
So, we approached the crossroads. As we approached, I came out with my standard "This is a very busy crossroads, so be careful and look in all directions before you move out" lecture. He had driven across this junction before without any problem, but even so, I sat with my foot hovering over the dual brake, just in case.
The main road was clear in both directions and a bus was approaching from the road opposite. I said words of encouragement along the lines of "It's OK, the road's clear, but be careful of that bus". The bus had stopped at the junction just as we started to move. Just before we were halfway across, the bus started turning right. Not only was it turning right, but it was seriously cutting the corner, and the driver was looking in the other direction.
What happened next actually happened very quickly, but seemed to happen in slow motion. If I had been driving, I would have instinctively put my foot down to get out of the way, but you can't expect a learner driver to do that, and there wasn't time for me to tell him to. Neither was there time for me to lean across to sound the horn and it was too late for me to use the dual brake (which would actually have made the situation worse). I just remember thinking "Oh my God, I hope what I think is going to happen doesn't happen". But it did. The bus hit us with some considerable force just behind the driver's door. The bus driver was still looking to the left and seemed oblivious to what had happened and continued driving pushing the car through 180 degrees.
Nobody was injured, thank God, but the pupil was understandably very shaken (as was I). Having made sure that the pupil wasn't physically injured, I went round the back to look at the mess the bus had made of my car. It was a mess. The whole of the offside rear end is completely stoved in the wheel is hanging at a peculiar angle and there is glass EVERYWHERE. Having ensured there were no fuel leaks, I lit a cigarette. (By golly, I needed it!)
To give the bus driver his due, his first concern was that we (the pupil and me) were OK and not injured. He went on to tell me that he'd been a bus driver for six years and that this was the first accident he'd ever had. In fact, he told me, he had been awarded the "Driver of the year" award by his company two years running. (Make note to self. If I teach my pupils to look in the opposite direction from which they are heading, maybe I can become "Driving Instructor of the year". Perhaps not)
By this time, I'd phoned the boss man who came down to survey the scene. Nobody was hurt, only shaken and I was bloody annoyed. The practicalities of the situation were by now sinking in. My car is now undriveable. Getting a replacement is moderately easy, but I have a pupil taking a test tomorrow morning – not enough time to get another car. The other instructors at the school also have tests at around the same time, so can't cover, so the boss man put me in touch with an instructor from another driving school who may be able to help. Not only was he able to help. I was expecting him to take the candidate himself and for me to pay him the test fee. In fact, he is letting me borrow his car for the morning and, even better, isn't even charging me.
After waiting around for nearly two hours for the breakdown truck to arrive and remove my wreck from the road, I finally got a taxi home, totally exhausted, somewhat relieved at the outcome of the problem with tomorrows test and still a little shaken from the accident. As I write this, I am soothing myself with a large, medicinal Gin.