We humans are obsessed with finding fault. Who dun it? Who’s responsible? Who’s gonna pay? Who’s liable? Someone has to make it right – Right?
The other day, as I drove back to my office after a morning appointment, thinking about the rest of my morning and wondering what I was going to order for lunch, a car jets out of a drive right in front of me. I slam on my brakes and feel by briefcase hit the back of my seat while other articles are scattered across the car floor. I quickly check the rear view mirror trying to find an escape route; I deftly maneuver to the left lane.
Unbelievably, the driver continues on to the left lane as though there is some magnetic pull between us. There are no more options, so I brace for impact. First the jolt that sends my brain sloshing against the inside of my skull, then the helpless feeling of being pushed up over the curb and into the median.
I wriggled my fingers and toes to assure myself that I’m unscathed. I see the other driver is also fine as the young lady comes running across the road from where she came to rest on the right shoulder. “What were you trying to do?” I ask.
I don’t often think about Michigan’s no-fault insurance laws, but I suddenly found myself wanting someone to testify that this was not my fault. I wanted the police to come and draw lines on the pavement and create complex computer scenarios that would prove my innocence and my skillful driving techniques that minimized the situation into a fairly manageable fender bender. But the fact was that my 13 year-old Chevy had only negligible damage, as did the young lady’s old beater and my insurance company assured me that we only needed to call the police if there were injuries or the threat of erupting violence.
I drove home with indignant disappointment that there was no proof of my virtuousness, or even more importantly, the other driver’s guilt. Even the petty scarring on my fender and hub cap didn’t testify to the extent I had been offended.
It was an accident, and that’s all. A teen-aged driver learning the ropes, and I was her crash test dummy. An accident. No fault. No blame. No satisfaction. An accident.
