Yes, we did Dodge A Bullet there.
It was my 20th road trip give or take a few when I met with an accident.
This happened in the interiors of Gujarat near Khambha while my mom and I were returning from Diu to Mumbai.
I lost control of the car while negotiating a sharp curve.
My car would have been at around 70-80 kmph on this road when I saw a right curve. I slowed down. However, in the hindsight, I probably underestimated the sharpness of the curve and did not reduce the speed as much as I should have.
As soon as I made that turn, my car skidded off the road and onto the right shoulder, going into a 180-degree spin.
Five times.
It took me those few milliseconds to get my bearings about me but after the fourth 180-degree spin, I thankfully applied the brakes.
The car came to a grinding stop on the other side of the left shoulder amidst a shower of dust and some small gravels.
It all happened so quickly, in a matter of a couple of seconds and then again when it was happening it felt like it was never going to end.
There was (thankfully!) no one else on either side of the road at that time.
Also, thankfully, there was enough shoulder on both sides of this road. This isn’t something that can be taken for granted on Indian village roads.
My mom and I were shell-shocked. A range of emotions ran through me at a speed of more than what the car was at; from panic to fear to disbelief to guilt to gratitude.
After about few moments of stunned silence, my mom was the first to break the dazed hush and asked, “what just happened?!”.
I had no answer to that. My initial guess was that this was due to a ‘tyre burst’.
We clumsily stumbled out of the car and saw the front right tyre had come off the rim. There did not seem to be any other significant damage to the car.
I calmed down a bit and it seemed that we only needed to change that particular tyre with the spare one from my boot.
If only either of us knew how to do that!
I tried to look for possible causes and noticed there was a lot of sand on the road. Probably a spillover from a truck.
We clicked a few pictures of the damage and sent it to Hyundai Roadside Assistance.
They initially said they could arrange for the car to be towed away.
On enquiring if it would not be easier to get someone to change the tyre, they said it was a possibility and that they could arrange for a mechanic.
However, due to the remote location of the accident, it could take up to six hours.
Six effing hours.
That is when I started to panic.
Meanwhile, my mom was trying to stop a passerby or two to try and get them to help us change the tyre. Or even call a mechanic.
She did manage to get hold of a few. However, explaining them the issue proved to be a challenge as we did not know Gujarati and they understood very little Hindi.
After some unsuccessful attempts, we finally found two men who understood Hindi.
They had to be jolted out of their first shock for starters. The shock of seeing two women travelling ‘alone’, to go with the fact they actually stopped people to try and get them to change the tyre.
While they themselves did not know how to change the tyres, what they did do was to become our translators and managed to stop a couple more to finish the job.
In less than half hour, the tyre was changed! Phew.
We profusely thanked our samaritans.
Following this, we resumed driving at a very slow speed and stopped at the first mechanic to get the damaged tyre assessed.
We were told there was no puncture, but the tyre had come off the rim due to the impact of the accident. The mechanic repaired that particular tyre and replaced it.
The rest of the journey back home was smooth with no more mishaps.
Two days after returning to Mumbai, I noticed my rear right tyre had a flat. On visiting a mechanic, I was informed there was a nail lodged in the rear tyre and it supposedly had been there since the accident. Maybe that was what actually caused the accident.
Or maybe it was from after the accident and we survived a second one. Who knows!
I know I have overused the word “thankfully”, but retrospectively analyzing the situation, I can only be thankful that nothing catastrophic happened.
We sure did dodge a bullet there.
There seem to be three possible causes of the accident – Speed, sand on the road and nail in the tyre.
Or a combination of all three.
I was a little concerned my mom would panic and refuse to accompany me on my future trips. I was right, partly, because she did panic but that lasted for just two hours.
It was service as usual after that.
Our last two hours of the drive to Mumbai were spent in having a meaningful conversation regarding our next road trip destination. It was a toss-up between Kerala and Spiti.
Then Covid19 happened.
Hi Priyanka, Just came across this blog(I am on a road trip from Mumbai to Diu between 26th and 30th Dec). The experience is narrated so beautifully. I do understand that the accident was unfortunate, but all is well that ends well. Thank you for sharing.