On Saturday, 7 July 2007, I was involved in the first real car accident of my life. It was a day that I will remember, but also will be very thankful for, as the accident could have been worse and people could have gotten hurt.
The whole thing happened on my way back from Durres, where three friends, and me, had spent the day at the beach, enjoying ourselves. Now we were ready to get back to Tirana for a nice evening with friends or resting at home.
We were all traveling in my car and as we left the beach we had found ourselves in the usual weekend traffic of Durres, coming from Kavaja towards the area that is called “Plepa†in Durres.
I was following the cars in front of me and as two of them had stopped, I too stopped while the first car turned left on a two way street. Right after I stopped, there was a fourth car which for reasons I did not quite understand, did not make it to stop in time, thus hitting my car from the behind.
I remember the moment very vividly because as that car was approaching, I was looking at it in the review mirror. Then in that split second I heard its tires screeching, followed by a crash into my car.
That day, I was traveling in my car, coming back from Durres to Tirana together with three friends. We had had a wonderful day at the beach, and were now ready to spend the rest of our day back in Tirana.
The crash stunned us all, and for a few seconds some of us did not even understand what was going on. Needless to say, I was very upset by the whole thing, especially considering the fact that it was entirely the other driver’s fault.
To make a long story short, the damage was not that great. The car that hit us broke the right headlight while my back fender was pushed in and now the back door won’t open regularly.
The car insurance should take car of all these things and my hope is that the car will be fixed properly.
But beyond the material concerns, I am thankful that nothing happened to any of the people that were traveling with me that day. I am thankful that nothing happened to the other driver, because at the end of the day, it’s people who matter most!
