Dear Editor,
What a world we live in; all kinds of unfairness resides in the people who live here. On the 4th of June, 2013 at about 12 noon my vehicle was hit from behind by a speeding Toyota driven by a young man of 20 years; he was doing in my estimation over 80 Km/h. This young man disregarded all the rules of road safety, by driving in a reckless manner, tried to overtake on the Agricola Public Road on the western carriageway, found he could not because a truck was on the eastern side of the said carriageway, so he pulled back behind me, hit the right rear side of my Toyota Hilux, then toppled twice in the said carriageway, before hitting the median and flicking over to the other side of the road.
That he is still alive is a miracle; his car was damaged beyond repair, my car had the rear bumper severely damaged, the front right fender and the sides of the door with minor problems. However, the impact caused my vehicle to be put out of line, with both back wheels sprawling outwards making driving very uncomfortable because the vehicle is now wobbling. The impact also caused the CV to give a cracking sound every time a turn is made either left or right; the steering which was very balanced before the accident now has a pull toward the right; the rubber seals under the vehicle were damaged causing leaks, and overall my vehicle is not the same after this unnecessary collision.
However, after much pleading by the young man via face-to-face discussions and incessant phone calls from him to me, during which he begged that I ask the police not to take action against him with the promise that he will repair everything that needs repairing that was caused by the accident, I relented and signed an agreement that I do not wish to have police action based on the promise that he repair my vehicle.
Part one of the promise was kept; the body was fixed in a reasonable manner, but this young man said he couldn’t find a mechanic to fix the other problems and that those he contacted were very busy. I offered to take the vehicle to my mechanic, and called him to let him know what the problem was, but he said he was finished with the vehicle since he has no more money.
Here I am left with an out-of-line vehicle, broken promises and a presumptuous attitude by this reckless twenty-year-old driver. I never felt he would have been so insolent and hostile to me after all the begging and pleading; he has conned me and I am wondering what avenue is left open to me for legal action.
Yours faithfully,
Ivan John