Ka Diary – 72,278 – 17 December 2005 – Endgame
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n Tuesday 29 November 2005 at
eight thirty in the morning Kermy was involved in an road traffic accident I am not at liberty to divulge the precise
details except I hold the third party entirely at fault. Kermy rolled and struck the kerb with the
roof.
The damage was most serious to the
nearside front, but both wings, the bonnet and the roof were damaged. His cooling system
sprang a leak and the front suspension collapsed. There is also a dent on the roof, which is
almost always terminal for the Ka: they don’t tend to survive rolling.
None of the Ka’s airbags deployed
and the fuel cut off was not triggered.
It was a low speed impact at a speed of under thirty miles per hour.
The crash itself, the details came
back with the sort of vivid clarity a day or so afterwards and flashbacks are
not kind to the mind. Now it’s strange
how the head is thinking, “nah he’s not really done that, it’s just my eyes
playing tricks” but the foot has already gone, “bugger this I’m hitting
the brake pedal” and the hands are saying, “heave ho, hard-a-starboard.”
Strike. Slow
barrel roll. Kerb. Land.
Afterwards, I calmly put the car
into neutral, put the handbrake on, switched the lights off, put the hazard
warning lights on and shut off the engine (I’ll come to this later). I recall observing a few people were running
along the road towards me: d’oh, don’t they realise that it’s a busy roundabout.
The door won’t open. Hmm.
The airbags haven’t triggered, the fuel cut off didn’t trigger, the
electrics are working, so the door must be bent. That’s not good news. Oh and the windscreen had now broken.
As I have alluded to above, during
the aftermath I was unable to sleep because of flashbacks. I don’t have a scratch, cut or graze on me
following the accidents although I had a concussed spine, which was causing
some problems with my arm (it wasn’t working properly heh). That I am aware, nobody else was injured
either.
Except Kermit.
It has been difficult to come to
terms with the loss of Kermy. Over our
four years of ownership we’ve had some great times, some wonderful experiences
and I’ve learnt a lot about the Ka and human nature too.
However we must move on and whilst
difficult I have had to see this as an opportunity to get something else I’ve
wanted to own. Originally it was going
to have “TDCi” written on the rump but as we researched the market it became
obvious that Ford TDCis are expensive.
Good but expensive. So Charlie
and I started researching elsewhere.
After many years with various Fords, including an affair with a Fiat,
looking away from the blue oval felt rather strange. It didn’t take us long to reach the
conclusion that the only car we both proper liked was the one we had... How does one replace the irreplaceable? There has to be a compromise somewhere along
the line.
We ruled out another Ka early
on. Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept
behind the original Ka and in execution it’s a great piece of kit. It’s not perfect, I don’t believe that any
car is, but the Ka gets so much right for us.
However, the reasons behind us not wanting another are that it simply
won’t be Kermy. It would be like having
a four year relationship with Kylie then dating her sister.
The same and yet not the same.
And so we are moving away from
Ford to the land of the rising sun, to
Meanwhile, here’s to you, little
guy. Thank you for saving my life.