OMG! Accident.

[bunn]

Mollydog just got hit by a motorbike.

She is OK, but she has a small puncture wound on her bum and is a bit bruised. She was a bit freaked out, but is now fast asleep. (I am a quaking wreck). She was on the lead of course, but it is a narrowish road with no pavement, and so far as I can remember through the shock, she sort of jumped sideways when she heard it come zooming up behind us and it hit her on the bum.

The guy on the bike sort of paused a little way up the road, but I'm afraid I lost it and yelled at him 'what the fuck were you doing' and he rode off again.

We were only on that road at all because I'd just managed to run over a rock that took out both of my tyres on one side. I was only taking her out for a quick walk, so I had no phone, no RAC card with me. But we weren't very far from home so I decided to walk back. Bad mistake.

I am in debt to a lovely lady who saw the accident and took me in, gave Mollydog a treat while she fraternised with her lurcher (and quickly forgot the whole thing, I really hope!) and me a cup of hot tea, then ran me home in her car. It was the best luck that Mary had a lurcher, because that was really interesting for her and they had a good time sniffing round each other.

When Molly tried to have a poo it hurt her and she screamed :-( so I think she must have quite a bruise.

I thought I was fine till we got home and I'd rung the RAC, then I burst into tears and couldn't stop for ages, but I am OK now. Though the RAC aren't helping - apparently the local garage that was supposed to be picking up the car got 2 calls to the same area at the same time, and managed to lose mine!

They now say they will come and get the car from where it is tomorrow and take it to a tyre place. I am just glad I did get home - if I'd had my phone with me I'd have called from the car and waited - and I'd be seriously stressed by now!

One thing that makes it worse is that both the RAC and the local garage, on hearing the car was a Subaru Impreza, automatically assumed that I was speeding. And I really, really wasn't: it's a narrow winding road, I had the dog in the boot, I was in no hurry : I was doing about 35 and it's a 40 limit. Polo is away as well, just to make things worse, and (to complete the jeremiad) I have just had to buy a new boiler, as ours is failing, so I could really do without having to pay for 2 new tyres as well.

Bummer.

I really hope it is true about bad luck in threes, cos I've had mine now.

Comments

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I'm sorry this happened to you. Glad to hear she's not badly hurt. I think things like this are more terrifying for the owners than to the animals. Animals just shrug and get on with it; humans torment themselves with worrying about how easily it could have been worse.

I had to smile, though, at the thought of you terrifying the culprit so much that he fled rather than face you...

[bunn.livejournal.com]

You are right - at first I really thought she'd broken a leg (greyhounds are utter drama queens: they scream like old Dr Who assistants), then afterwards I kept thinking how lucky it was that it hit her big bouncy thigh muscle rather than one of her many bony bits!

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Like what ladyofastolat said but with *gentle hugs* for Molly. I take it that it was all too quick and the bike too far away to get his licence plate for the old bill to hunt him down.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

If I'd been less shocked by the whole thing, I could have seen it, but for some reason it really took me aback, and my memories are very fuzzy. I can barely remember that it was a blue bike and not very big. I assume it can't have been going very fast, as the damage done is so limited, but it was extremely noisy.

I *hope* though that the rider has now had his lesson about driving very close to animals, and will just have the sense to leave a sensible gap next time. If he does the same thing to a horse, he is going to get squished.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I always wonder just how accurate "eye witness" accounts of crimes really are. I was attacked once in Oxford (someone else appeared and scared the chap away before anything bad happened) and my mind immediately went into a strange state of confused reality. I didn't have a clue afterwards if the person was white, or black, wearing red, pink or purple... And I do sometimes wonder how many victims and witnesses really do remember such things accurately, or if their mind constructs it (perhaps falsely) after the event.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you are right. I can't think (in retrospect) that the bike can have been doing much more than 30ish, given that there were no major injuries and the rider stayed on top of it, but Mary was convinced he was speeding (40+ on that road) It may well be that my memory of turning and finding the bike almost on top of us is equally flawed.

[na-lon.livejournal.com]

Eyewitness testimony is notoriously bad. There have been dozens of studies from teh seventies onwards showing how much of eyewitness testimony is vulnerable to questioning and interview techniques. There is, in fact, a fair amount of evidence that essentially all of our memory is constructed every time we recall something. When something happens, we process this in a ways that makes it make sense to us. Then, we we try to recall, we go backwards from the way we have made sense of things to fill in the details of what we have experienced. [/psychologist mode]

If you are interested, I can tell you lots more about this. It's kind of my field.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I am interested in the topic. I read a short but intriguing chapter once, in a more general book about something else, and I keep meaning to read more, but never quite got round to it... or really known where to start. Any good books for the layman that you can recommend?

(Sorry, Bunn, for straying off topic here. I hope Molly is still improving!)

[na-lon.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Bummer indeed. I third what the above say. Also think that dogs probably get over that sort of thing better than their owners, but she may of course be ever scared of motorbikes now. :-(

Lots of sympathy. And don't let people jumping to conclusions about you because of the car you drive get to you, though I have to admit that people jumping to conclusions does get to me usually. (Like that twit in the bank who thought I was dodgy the other day.)

I hope both you and Mollydog recover from your mis-adventure(s) soon.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the hugs. In retrospect I can see that my overreaction was completely idiotic, as it was the one thing guaranteed to make Mollydog think things were worse than they really were, but it is easy to say that after the event!

[na-lon.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know the feeling. You know how they say that hindsight is 20/20... Well, it ain't. We just think it is - chances are even knowing what we know afterwards, we'd still get worried/freak out/start screaming.

To my mind, your account doesn't sound as if you overreacted - you just reacted. That's not idiotic.

Hopefully, your canine dramaqueen - as you referred to her above - will soon be fully recovered and you won't get into this sort of situation again.

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

Eek! Hope everyone is recovering nicely. I must admit, I don't know how I'd react if I hit an animal -- I'd like to think I'd stay and check everything was OK, but...

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Wel, I would kind of assume that you wouldn't be driving so close to the beast in the first place that a step sideways would cause a collision!

I've been thinking it through, and I can't see how he wouldn't have seen us, and as she was on a short leash, I don't think she can have moved more than a couple of feet into the road at most, so he really must have been right next to us.

I have this sort of blurry memory of turning and seeing a helmet about an arms length away: if I'd been standing on the other side of the dog, I think he might have hit me instead.

Moral: always stand between dog and road. (I knew this, but I think I'd got careless).

[(Anonymous)]

What, so that next time he WILL hit you instead??? - Neuromancer.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Ummm, yes. If one of us is going to get swooped at by a passing motorcyclist, I'm more likely to be seen, much less likely to be badly damaged by an impact, and probably marginally less likely to jump in surprise and step into the path of the oncoming lunatic.

Admittedly, there is an outside chance that I die horribly, leaving the dog to mourn sadly by the roadside rather in the manner of Greyfriars Bobby, but I feel the odds are on my side.

[pellegrina.livejournal.com]

Oh dear! I hope Mollydog's bruises get better soon. It's amazing how well dogs tend to deal with things like that (unless they're neurotic dachshunds who get barked at once by a police dog and hate white cars forever more). Also hope you get over the fright quickly and that your run of bad luck dries up!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I think Daxies are a bit more hyper! Mollydog is normally so calm and reliable - I am really hoping this has not made a permanent scar. Of course, if I'd been able to handle it more calmly that would have helped - what a twit I am.

[(Anonymous)]

How horrible. I hate it when things like that happen, and when your other half's away you don't have the hugs and mutual support :-(. I would have had a damn good cry too. Still, at least everyone's OK, and the car/tyres will get sorted out soon. Glad there was a nice lady to give you tea. Neuromancer.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks. She is a bit sore and limpy this morning, but less so than when she ran into a rock and crashed herself.

[chainmailmaiden]

Just read this, shows what you miss when you don't get to read LJ for a couple of weeks. Hope Mollydog has made a full recovery by now. I really felt for her, I got hit by a speeding car when I was 10 and I was sore for some time afterwards to say the least. It's probably been the only time I've been grateful I dislocate things easily as it saved me from breaking my leg.