On Saturday I had committed to take my Mum and her friend to a reunion with old RAF mates. We started out at 10:30 and got on our way from Bournemouth to Milton Keynes.
The sat nav decided the M3 – M25 – M1 was the fastest route so off we went. With traffic doing the normal ‘thing’ we were travelling along as planned when the outside lane on the M25 came to a standstill.
I slowed down and stopped and then suddenly got hit from behind by 3 cars.
A 4 car accident on the M25, on a Saturday (12pm) was not on the plans – I immediately checked my Mum and her friend before getting out to check other people involved.
The first car had an elderly couple in and they looked shocked, but that was about it – no air bags and the front of their car was a mess, but no obvious injuries.
The second car ‘sandwiched’ between 2 cars was driven by a lady who, now had a bleeding nose due to her airbags working, but seemed ok and was out of her car.
Finally, the third car with a dad and Son, had the front end smashed and embedded into the second car. The engine was pushed back and, it was obvious that the 3 other cars were write offs! Another nose bleed due to the air bags doing their job.
I dialled 999 and reported the accident, in as much detail as possible and an off duty firemen stopped to help and called it in on a special number, which speeded things up.
We waited for about 20 mins and then all of the services turned up. Fire engines blocked the 4 lanes of the motorway, allowing the medics to check everyone out. The cars were moved to the hard shoulder, fortunately I drove ours across and waited for the police to take a statement, breathalyse me and check the car was ok to drive further.
It was a long winded process with loads of paperwork but the emergency services did an amazing job. It’s times like this when you realise how lucky we are to have such dedicates professionals looking after us.
I am sure, like me, you moan when you get stuck in traffic because someone hasn’t been paying attention, resulting in an accident and delays. The reality is that if we are stuck and moaning then we are probably safe and uninjured.
I am thankful that no-one was seriously injured and we did make the reunion and had a good time. I’m not sure who’s fault it was and I didn’t care at the time (I just knew it wasn’t me). On reflection and the ensuing what if moments’ that generally follow these types of things, I am glad it was not a lorry following us!
The emergency services did their job and did it well – thank you!
Remember to kiss your partner and children before you leave the house. Tell them you love them, every day, even if you are not on the best of terms.
You never know what the day brings!