Inevitable

Well. Fuck.

I was recently gifted a car by my very charitable sister, just a little 1.2 Ford Fiesta Finesse. She'd had it for two years and was upgrading to something newer, and figured since I'd never owned a car despite passing my test over a decade ago, she'd let me have it. It was appreciated. It was a chance for a fresh chapter, one where I had some freedom to visit friends, family and undertake day trips with my daughter.

As I said, I'd not owned a car in over a decade, so my driving ability had atrophied. Nevertheless, I figured I needed to just shrug off my doubts and nervousness, get in it and start driving. I was never going to improve unless I dared to drive it. Get some practice, some road experience and improve my driving ability; that was the plan. A £596 insurance policy later, and I was legally allowed to drive. That was March 10th.

A mere 5 days later on March 15th, I had my first crash. Well. It wasn't so much a crash, as a bump but nevertheless, it was an incident. Grateful that my policy only has a £45 excess so getting the minor damage repaired isn't a crippling my finances but still, thoroughly frustrated with myself.

I had driven without incident a couple of times since getting the car, becoming increasingly confident with my ability. It was like riding a bike they'd said. I drove out to Biddulph, and whilst there picked my mate Caineo up. We drove leisurely back through Chell and headed down to Festival Park without incident. I was just allowing the road to unfold in front of me, not really overthinking where I was driving, happy to just get some miles in. Suddenly it crossed my mind to pop into MacDonalds and head through the drive thru. It seemed a fairly innocuous thing that many newer drivers did. Alas, it would not be the case for me.

As I eased into the drive thru, I positioned myself behind a Mercedes in the right hand lane. A staff member had come out of the building and was speaking to the driver through his window, passing a phone back and forth. I was blocking the entrance to the left lane, but was waiting patiently for the Mercedes to pull off so I could follow him around. Then the staff member began to wave at me, indicating for me to pull into the left lane and go around the Mercedes. Other cars were beginning to queue behind me, adding to the pressure of feeling like I was holding everyone up. Reluctantly and foolishly I attempted the manouevre.

Instantly I knew I should have just ignored the pressure and waited. As soon I had released the handbrake and let the clutch out, my car lurched forward faster than I'd anticipated, and as I tried to steer across to the left lane, the futility was obvious. My car rolled forward and nudged into the back of the Mercedes as I hit the brakes, and came to an abrupt stop. It had happened. 5 days into my policy, I'd had a crash.

The driver of the Mercedes got out of his car, as the staff member chastised "what has he done that for?" as if it were my conscious choice to crash. I explained to the driver that I'd only just had the car and that I wasn't used to driving it yet. He seemed sympathetic and pulled his Mercedes forward so we could assess the damage. It didn't look like much at all from a cursory glance. His bumper was a little scuffed, and my splitter had a crack in it.

The damage seemed inconsequential and trivial, and I felt a little relieved that I may get to walk away with only wounded pride. That was not to be the case. The Mercedes pulled around from the drive thru and parked up. I followed, ashamedly. We both got out and exchanged details. I was worried about the impact a fault claim would have on my insurance, but the driver reassured me he'd get an estimate for the repairs and we could go from there.

I drove my mate Caineo back to Biddulph, my head all over the place. My driving was a little erratic at first but I shrugged it off, and quickly got back into the mindset of accepting it had happened now, and there was nothing I could do about it. I dropped Caineo off, and then drove back home to Burslem without incident. Back home I was admittedly a bit shaken up. I felt foolish, and annoyed at myself. But again, it was what it was, and worrying would not change it.

I awoke on March 16th, today, and figured I'd go to assess the damage in the light of day. It seems there is also a small crack in the bottom of my radiator, not sure whether it was there before the little nudge. Whether or not it is significant I couldn't say, though I did drive the car over 10 miles following the bump and didn't notice any indication of a coolant leak.

I messaged a few friends who work in the motor trade, one of whom is a paint sprayer and another who is a panel beater. They both offered rough guesstimates of £200-£300 minimum to respray the Mercedes bumper. This was starting to sound a lot more expensive than the small bump would have seemed. My excess was a mere £45. It seemed obvious at this point to just swallow my pride and go through the insurance.

Now I play the waiting game. The claim has been notified. It's definitely been an experience I won't forget. And likely one that will impact the cost of my insurance policies for the next few years.

We live and we learn. And today I learned, I really am a shit driver.