As you can see, I HAD AN ACCIDENT.
Of course I am upset, very upset. Pissed as a matter of fact. I didn’t even see it coming. I was on my way to class at the Jamaican-German Automotive School (JAGAS) on Maxfield Avenue on Monday, March 3, 3008 when this happened. It felt like something fell out of the sky and hit me, well I mean hit the car. Here’s my version of what happened:
I stopped just above the gate of the school compound and signaled that I intended turn right using my indicator. It was 5:00 and there was bumper-to-bumber traffic going in the opposite direction (toward Half Way Tree). In Jamaica we drive on the left so this means they were on my right. A man driving a taxi (white Toyota corolla with red plates) stopped and signaled to me by blinking his headlights. I acknowledged his gesture with a toot of my horn and proceeded to turn across his lane. As I was about to climb onto the sidewalk/ gate area I heard a loud noise and saw a man falling to the ground. Thats right he was in mid air when I saw him. He got up immediately and proceeded to pick up his bike which was a little way from the car. I was so shocked.
I put on my hazard lights, jumped out of the car and proceeded to ask him if he was alright and what happened. He started ranting and raving about how he had to jump from his bike or he would have died and how I was insensitive for asking him if he never saw me coming across. I went back to the car and moved it onto the sidewalk infront of the gate then went back to talk to him. He identified himself and told me that the bike belonged to the company he worked for so he had to call his boss first. I helped him pull the bike from the sidewalk onto the gate area and proceeded to exchange documents as he made several calls to his office.
The security guards came out and told that they had seen what happened and I should just take his information down and make the police report. Several students also came out to the gate forming a small crowd. Some asking what happened and some telling what they saw. He finally got the owner of the bike and passed the phone to me so I could speak to him. I identified myself, gave him a run-down of what happened and told him to meet us at the Half Way Tree Police Station.
I then asked the security guards if they could allow us to leave the bike on the premises until we returned from the police station. This turned out to be a major issue, however it worked out. I hate bureaucratic organizations, too much red tape. We had to leave the bike outside and rush to the police station as they were making calls for a half an hour trying to get someone to give the final word on whether or not it could be left on the property temporarily. We made the report and returned to JAGAS. My teacher had arranged for me to leave the bike on the compound overnight and helped us drag/ lift it into the workshop.
I’m glad I still got the opportunity to catch the majority of class as I was looking forward to it. We were taught how to service the braking system using a box of old master cylinders, disks and calipers as well as drum brakes. We also got the chance to inspect a classmates car afterwards.
I will follow up on this post as the situation develops. kinda tired now. The next post will be about what took place at the police station and my insurance broker the next day.
