Well here it is 2013. We haven’t posted for a couple of
weeks. So happy New Year reader.
Now to business; things are difficult. You may be thinking
straight away “cold feet”. You’d be right it’s been cold, and at this time of
year the thought of going off travelling seems a thousand years away. However
things are awry with our plan in ways that are almost impossible to comprehend
or believe.
We are in the land of “you couldn’t make it up”. On Saturday
morning January 19th 2013 (at around 3am to be precise), a stolen
vehicle driven by a drunk driver, plus a passenger lost control of their stolen
Ford Ka and ploughed into the rear offside of the motorhome. Yes you read that
right. Pictures below.
I haven’t written it up before now because we’ve been
playing the waiting game with the insurance company ... thus far they have been
awkward. And I’m only forgiving them because of the severe weather and the
volume of snow related incidents they are dealing with.
We are in total limbo, the damage to the rear underside of
the chassis is extensive, however the entire rear extension to the chassis that
supports the habitation unit drops off with fourteen bolts. The lighting
cluster is made of fibreglass and is a bolt on unit as is the Safe T Bar, which
is another extension to the chassis extension, and includes the tow hook. There
is no damage to the floor, the gas system, new toilet, kitchen, plumbing or
shower. So that’s all within certain parameters repairable or replaceable
dependent on availability of parts ... and we know a man who breaks them
www.no1gear.com mentioned variously elsewhere.
The rear may not be the problem. It’s the front that’s the
bone of contention. Our vehicle was forced forward some eight feet, but of
course our neighbours car was parked just three or four feet in front of the
motorhome and they like us being keen campers have a tow hook. Our front bumper
was cleaved in two like an Orcs head before the Axe of Gimli. This has resulted
in a significant creased ding in the main front chassis cross member. This
cross member supports the radiator and all its paraphernalia. I once wrecked a
Smart Roadster and know that the chassis will, with a little heat pull out
(none of the radiator parts or fans are damaged), but the ding is deep. On the
nearside where the suspension leg bubble/bulkhead rises from the main monocoque
of the cab, there is a split in the skin. The split may just be sound proofing
but I think it’s the metal (I’m not an engineer I can’t be sure). The split may
be weldable, however it does speak of lateral shock to the front suspension leg
and the steering gear that links in down there below.
And now we come to not knowing what’s going on. The severe
weather means that Direct Line is swamped with claims for all sorts, all their
assessors are busy, and our vehicle hasn’t even been looked at yet, in spite of
a number of calls to move things along. So we have no idea whether they will
write it off or repair it. In our motorhomes favour, is the fact that it’s in
very good nick all round, and has been renovated internally, and the fact that
it is a “no fault claim” and all repairs will be covered . Against it is its
age and the expertise of the person doing the assessing.
Aside from this the police have not compiled a report yet as
the RTC status of the incident is likely to become a criminal matter due to a
list of motoring offences as long as your arm committed by the driver and
passenger.
Aside from our own problems, we were told by the police at
the scene that the girl (who may have been driving) was found between two parked
cars opposite our home. I must explain that I was wearing earplugs, so while I
did hear a bang I didn’t register it as significant. The girl had been dragged
from the car by the male person (again we have no further details from the
police as to whether he was passenger or not), her injuries include a broken
leg, a broken pelvis, a deep cut to the face, and possibly an eye injury. The
male realised that the girl couldn’t make it and did the decent thing and
abandoned her on the ground, in minus 2.5 degree cold with snow falling.
We were not alone in not realising something was up. No one
woke up, and the only reason that the girl was saved, was because the Port Of
Tilbury Police were doing a drive through the town, round to the cruise
terminal, they spotted the vehicle lit but parked oddly and decided to have a
closer look.
So there we are, up a gum tree, in limbo, on hold. We’ll
post when we have more news. One must say that we have numerous plans in place
for every eventuality these will form a separate post.
