A car Accident

We were involved in a car accident on a beautiful Californian day last November. It happened in the parking lot of a Korean market in Buena Park, California. The market is very popular and a gregarious assemblage of Korean people: the young and the old  and in between, new comers and old timers and in between, and the pretty and the ugly and in between. This indeed is a panoramic spectrum of people with varing shapes and different minds. The parking lot that day was packed with randomly moving cars, whose drivers might be searching for empty parking space or trying to head home -- Californians always look busy. You never know what sort of person you deal with until you actually face the situation. Here is my story:

HJ(my wife) with me in the passenger seat was for home, pulling out of the parking slot, and was about to pull toward the alley, when an SUV from the opposite parking slot pulled out backward to hit our car on the rear left hand tailgate light and its surrounding, and resulted in breaking the light fixture and making dent on the nearby body. The offending SUV immediately pulled forward to its original position. The SUV did not suffer even a scratch. Our car was stopped in the middle of the alley. We called the police authority only to learn that a minor accident in a parking parking lot is not worth their time.

The offending driver was an innocent looking Korean woman in her forties accompanied by a teenage boy sitting on her right. They looked young in our view, but in perplexity. We were ancient in their view, but in peace. It was clear that there were aware of the movement of their car before and after the collision. She hurriedly called her insurance agent and called him "Elder" in Korean. Then I guessed her agent to be an elder of a Korean community church somewhere, but not far from the place, which is common in Southern California.

We were to resolve the problem ourselves with none willing to stand witness for all so many observers present on the scene. The woman wanted to leave the scene quickly, telling me that she soon had to pick up her little child from school. This made me think for a moment and reflect back to our younger busy days raising kids. I care about young kids who would carry our still unaccomplished dreams. Though I could be duped by the lady, I decided to trust her integrity. I, using my cellphone camera, took several pictures of the accident scene at varing angles. I even blessed the teenage boy to be a good man, encouraged to study hard, and let them leave the scene.  We returned home with our car demaged.

I contected my insurance company to report the accident by providing the necessary information and pictures taken. Within couple of days, our car was fixed nicely and I paid the deductible. I expected the deductible recovered at least in part, since no fault was on our side in our view.

Months later, my insurance company called to inform us that the offender had denied their movement of their car at the collision and had insisted that, contrary to our belief, we pulled out backward to hit their standstill car. At that moment, the faces of the woman, teenage boy, and Elder, the agent, came to mind. Did Elder advise her to deny her action? Did the woman teach her son not to tell the truth? Didn't the teen have courage to stand for the truth? I was disappointed! The teen may learn from his parent expediency over truth. His consciousness may be darkened and diminished from his heart before full blooming.I prayed this not to happen to the boy.

I knew Elder playing the insurance business game. He took the position, without searching for the truth or with taking chance, that his client is not guilty until legally proven guilty, which is a very expensive premise. He played "the game of denial and observation" without knowing when to stop. (Remember California is a liberal state.)

I refuted their denial by reminding the insurance company, with a picture sent for the claim, of the collision spot indicated by the debris scattered on the ground which is the alley, and not the parking spot of their car. But the dispute had been dragged all the way to arbitration. Very recently five months after the accident, Our insurance company sent us a check fully refunding the deductible I paid in advance.

I am thinking of the cost of settlement involved here. Several thousands of dollars at least must have been spent in time and money over the five month period. No wonder the insurance premiums are so high in this country. If the offender had conceded her fault, the total cost must have been reduced thus making Californians less poor. The society without consciousness could be very expensive to run and bankrupt eventually like Greece and many European countries of today. (March 22, 2112, KYP)