I received an email the other day from my lawyer in Cayman that the insurance company had settled and sent me a copy of the release to sign in order to get the check released.

I've held off on writing anything about the whole ordeal until the settlement was done, just in case. I'm still not going to write too much about it until the money is deposited in my bank account, but some of the details are familiar enough to warrant a little write-up here.

In my accident last year, I was hit by a Honda broadside (on a Vespa) in a roundabout. He didn't stop, he didn't look, he entered the roundabout and slammed into me. I heard the bang, I felt myself at zero gravity and then heard the most awful noise as the Vespa skidded, spinning along the ground throwing sparks everywhere. I myself skidded, spinning along the ground as well, chewing up my right leg, arm and across the back of my shoulders and neck. My helmet had perpendicular scrapes on three sides attesting to the different directions my head took while tumbling around on the pavement. It turned out that my LEFT side (the impact side, rather than the road rash side) is the side that took the brunt of the soft tissue and bone damage.

The next week, I hobbled down to the police station to give my statement and also the insurance company. It was clear already then, that he was completely at fault and was in fact charged in criminal court with Careless Driving. August turned into September and then in November, when the seriousness of his infraction came to light, a witness suddenly appeared. A witness, who was a friend of his, who said he saw the whole thing happen and that I was going the wrong way around the roundabout. There were a million reasons why it was bullshit, and in the end, finally, nearly a year after the accident, the insurance company pressed him on it and he folded. At that point it was just a matter of retaining an injury lawyer to quantify the damage and find the casework to back it up. This has all been done now, but it took FOREVER. It could have been taken care of by the end of August 2007 if the guy who hit me wasn't such an asshole.

Last month, right before I moved back, my mother was in a car accident that happened A) almost a year to the day and B) in almost the same fashion. She was at a stoplight, the light turned green, she went through the intersection and was hit from the left by another driver who ran the red light. Slammed right into the drivers' side door at I can only imagine close to 50km/h. It's a testament to Audi that she was un-injured in an accident that totalled the car. Either that or she has iron bones too and that's where I got it from!

A witness came out to the accident scene who lived on the corner and said she saw the whole thing happen, she had the green light and the person ran the red. I've seen quite a few accidents happen at that intersection while growing up in the area, and I'm guessing that the people who live on the corner do, too. Another witness corroborated the same story. Then another person showed up and contradicted the first two witnesses 180 degrees. The fact that the third person is of the same, how shall I say it-- ancestry-- as the person who caused the accident is just a bit suspect. People are such assholes.

The police attended, a tow truck took away the car and an ambulance took away my mother who after being checked out was discharged and has been going to physiotherapy, chiropractic and massage therapy for a hip problem on the left side.. the side that was hit. My parents met with the claims adjuster and investigator who pretty much wrote it up and wrote them a check for the value of the car and closed the case. So far it seems like the same sort of accident that I was in, except the insurance people read the police reports and looked at the pictures and made the decision.

A lawyer friend of my father's suggested he file civil suit against the other driver. On asking WHY he would bother, the lawyer friend said "in these types of situations, the person who's at fault will turn around and sue you anyway, to try and deflect the blame" so he suggested a pre-emptive suit. My parents thought (and I agree) that it was distasteful, but went ahead and laid the groundwork for it anyway. Good thing they did, as out of the blue, the at-fault driver's lawyer has counter-sued and brought forth three OTHER "witnesses" who said the exact opposite of what the police report and insurance company findings were. The result of that is that the insurance company has now reversed it's decision and said my mom is 100% at fault for the collision, even though the other driver ran through a red light. HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE? People are such assholes.

Now the groundwork that the lawyer my parents retained is suddenly a good idea. Now they have to hash it all out and meet with the investigator(s) all over again and go over the reports, go over the photos and re-interview the witnesses. If one person makes a semantic mistake that the lawyer can exploit, then my mom is on the hook for an accident that she didn't cause and they lose their no-claims discount--among other financial hits like having to replace the car.

It's just a symptom of the society we've become where no one takes any personal responsibility for anything they do. McDonald's made me fat. I was burned by hot coffee because I didn't know it was hot coffee even though I ordered hot coffee. I tripped over something that I couldn't see because, well, I can't see my own feet because I'm too fat--and by the way that's McDonalds' faul--and broke my arm so I'm going to sue for a life-changing settlement. I ran a red light because I wasn't paying attention to my driving and rammed straight into an old lady who was on her way home from the market, but it wasn't my fault because... solar flares were causing the atmospheric conditions that made my radio staticy and it distracted me. Whatever, the bottom line is no matter where in the world you go or you live, PEOPLE ARE SUCH ASSHOLES.