Today there was a small car accident near my school.
The accident occurred near a very busy group of shop-lots - a strip mall with out the glitz, glamour, planning or parking - where traffic never goes faster than about 10 kph because cars are double-parked, pedestrians are weaving in and out of the parked cars and motorcycles and bicycles come and go in all directions. I was fairly confident it was a fender bender with no injuries.
Because the road was blocked, I was starting to plan an exit route that involved driving the wrong way down a one-way street. (not actually that uncommon)
Just then, I noticed that one of the cars was starting to roll backwards away from the crash. Standing beside the car was a grey-haired man who was pushing his little Proton Saga (appropriately named and the national car of Malaysia with the power of my bicycle) from the right, passenger door window. As the car picked up momentum, the grey haired man started running beside the car. The car rolled little faster, the man ran a little harder. The car cleared the blocked intersection, the man was now chasing the car. It was at this point that I realized the grey-haired man was the driver of the car. But, he wasn't driving. He was still running behind the car (well, actually in front of the car because the car was rolling backwards.)
Here's a question for you. How are the Proton Saga and the Google Self-Driving car the same?
A. They are both small.
How are they different?
A. One needs a driver.
I thought to myself, "This should be interesting...."
The car, still rolling backwards, made a swerve to the right. Perhaps in his effort to try and stop his own car, the driver had grabbed the steering wheel thus causing the car to veer off its original course.
I started chuckling to myself. "This doesn't look good."
At this point, the rear bumper of the car grazed the first of four parked motorcycles. The first, a large, blue, heavy looking motorcycle, slowly teetered into the next smaller motorcycle which, in turn, teetered into another, and another just like slow motion dominoes.
The car rolled a few more feet until it was finally stopped by the curb. The grey-haired man eventually caught up with his car. The last motorcycle was teetered to its resting place on the front bumper of the parked car it had fallen upon, and the four motorcycles were resting on top of each other like newborn puppies nestled against their mom.
I was imagining swearing, yelling, pointing of fingers, "OMG how could I be so stupid?", sirens, something.
But nothing happened.
Everyone was calm and quiet.
Sunstroke?
Shock?
Common place?
I was still laughing out loud.
Then, as if nothing had happened, (think: Steve Martin playing the Pink Panther) the grey-haired man calmly got in his car, closed the door, started the engine, and drove away. A couple of male by-standers strained to picked up the motorcycles and then brushed them off as if nothing had happened.
I can hear it now. (Well, I can't actually hear the Malay but here is my translated version..)
Wife - "How was your day, dear?"
Husband - "Oh, you know. The usual. I had a little fender bender. I forgot that I shouldn't push my own car unless someone is actually in the driver's seat. Luckily, our little Saga still runs. Hope those motorcycles are OK. What's for dinner?"
By now the car in front of me was gingerly making its way past the original crashed car, still blocking most of the left lane.I followed as if this were the most normal daily occurrence I'd ever witnessed.
If only I'd captured it on video...It'd go viral.
The accident occurred near a very busy group of shop-lots - a strip mall with out the glitz, glamour, planning or parking - where traffic never goes faster than about 10 kph because cars are double-parked, pedestrians are weaving in and out of the parked cars and motorcycles and bicycles come and go in all directions. I was fairly confident it was a fender bender with no injuries.
Because the road was blocked, I was starting to plan an exit route that involved driving the wrong way down a one-way street. (not actually that uncommon)
Just then, I noticed that one of the cars was starting to roll backwards away from the crash. Standing beside the car was a grey-haired man who was pushing his little Proton Saga (appropriately named and the national car of Malaysia with the power of my bicycle) from the right, passenger door window. As the car picked up momentum, the grey haired man started running beside the car. The car rolled little faster, the man ran a little harder. The car cleared the blocked intersection, the man was now chasing the car. It was at this point that I realized the grey-haired man was the driver of the car. But, he wasn't driving. He was still running behind the car (well, actually in front of the car because the car was rolling backwards.)
Here's a question for you. How are the Proton Saga and the Google Self-Driving car the same?
A. They are both small.
How are they different?
A. One needs a driver.
I thought to myself, "This should be interesting...."
The car, still rolling backwards, made a swerve to the right. Perhaps in his effort to try and stop his own car, the driver had grabbed the steering wheel thus causing the car to veer off its original course.
I started chuckling to myself. "This doesn't look good."
At this point, the rear bumper of the car grazed the first of four parked motorcycles. The first, a large, blue, heavy looking motorcycle, slowly teetered into the next smaller motorcycle which, in turn, teetered into another, and another just like slow motion dominoes.
The car rolled a few more feet until it was finally stopped by the curb. The grey-haired man eventually caught up with his car. The last motorcycle was teetered to its resting place on the front bumper of the parked car it had fallen upon, and the four motorcycles were resting on top of each other like newborn puppies nestled against their mom.
I was imagining swearing, yelling, pointing of fingers, "OMG how could I be so stupid?", sirens, something.
But nothing happened.
Everyone was calm and quiet.
Sunstroke?
Shock?
Common place?
I was still laughing out loud.
Then, as if nothing had happened, (think: Steve Martin playing the Pink Panther) the grey-haired man calmly got in his car, closed the door, started the engine, and drove away. A couple of male by-standers strained to picked up the motorcycles and then brushed them off as if nothing had happened.
I can hear it now. (Well, I can't actually hear the Malay but here is my translated version..)
Wife - "How was your day, dear?"
Husband - "Oh, you know. The usual. I had a little fender bender. I forgot that I shouldn't push my own car unless someone is actually in the driver's seat. Luckily, our little Saga still runs. Hope those motorcycles are OK. What's for dinner?"
By now the car in front of me was gingerly making its way past the original crashed car, still blocking most of the left lane.I followed as if this were the most normal daily occurrence I'd ever witnessed.
If only I'd captured it on video...It'd go viral.
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