It was bound to happen

We lived in Houston for close to 8 years before we came to Jakarta. Houston is known for car accidents, and it is assumed by many that you will be in one if you live there long enough. I managed to survive all 8 years without being in an accident (that required car repairs). Erin did not, but that is not what I am talking about today.

We took the family to the mall in the car yesterday, Sunday. It felt like there was a lot more traffic on the road than our regular Sunday drive to the Pondok Indah Mall. It is a drive that we have become accustom to since I can drive it on days our driver has off. Traffic was slow in places that it was not normally slow. Finally we came to a point where the traffic quickly stopped for no apparent reason (you Houston highway drivers know about that). We went from 20 kph to 0 kph, but there was plenty of room between us and the car in front of us.

After what seemed like a second, though it was probably not that long, we heard screeching tires followed by the tell-tale sounds of a rear-ending. Unfortunately, it was in unison with the jolt of our car going forward. A small dump truck, probably with bald tires and about 3 tons over its weight limit, hit the back of the Van. Without getting out of the car we decided the truck probably did not have insurance and for sure we did not know enough Bahasa Indoneisa to communicate with the driver. So... we set off on our way to the mall again. When we arrived, we surveyed the damage. The biggest problem: the back door won't open. Everyone in the van was fine.

I talked to the insurance people today. They came by my office to help me out and see the vehicle. It was very obvious we were run into. I filled out the paperwork and told them I managed to get the license plate number (go Erin) of the truck that hit us. He kinda chuckled and said, that won't help. It looks like we will be driving a van with a stuck closed back door until we leave for the US. Sarif took the van by the repair place and they said it would take 10 days to repair.

So I did not even survive 8 months in Jakarta without getting into an accident. Not even close to 8 years. Oh well. The car insurance will take care of things. Luckily the deductible is 100,000 rupiah, $10.