An accident is a sudden, unexpected and undesirable event that can result in damage or harm to a person or property. Can you really prepare for an accident? The answer will unfold as you read about my personal experience.

My car’s air-conditioner had packed up and after several unsuccessful attempts at repairing it, I gave up. Thus this hot afternoon, I was driving in a lane of slowly moving cars with my car windows completely down and enjoying the natural warm midday breeze. Everything was fine until a thought crossed my mind as I looked at the side mirror on the driver’s side.

The angulation of the mirror suggested that should a vehicle, coming at high speed from the opposite direction, collide with my side mirror, the broken fragments of glass would go straight into my eyes.

My apprehension heightened as I analysed the sequence of events that would follow such as accident. Instinctively, I rolled the window on the driver’s side half way up. “This is even worse!” I told myself. It would be double jeopardy if the window glass should break and combined with the side mirror result in a more devastating injury to my face and eyes. Then I did what I considered a very stupid thing at the time but which later turned up to be my saving grace! I rolled up the two front windows completely. In no time I was sweating profusely.

Not quite two minutes after, a white car approaching from the opposite direction at an incredible high speed crashed into my car as he overtook the car ahead of him. There was a loud explosion! The driver didn’t stop. He just drove on. “What’s the cause of the explosion?” I asked myself. A quick survey showed that the casing housing the side mirror of my car had collided with his. The fury of the impact had broken the glass and slammed its casing against the window. I shivered at the thought of what, a few moments before would have been my fate had the window been left down at the time of impact. The glass fragments would have gone straight into my eyes.

As if to show me how fortunate I was, several days later, a young man who was not so lucky, was brought to my office. A car coming from the opposite direction at high speed had swerved suddenly while trying to avoid a pothole on the road and had run into his car. The two side-mirrors knocked each other violently and got broken. Glass fragments had entered his eye resulting in an extensive laceration of his eyeball. He needed three major operations before he could have some vision restored in the eye. Since then I have attended to a few more unfortunate victims of such injuries.

Accidents as described above are rare in developed countries because rules are enforced and aggressive driving is punished. But glass injuries from broken windscreens are not uncommon in front seat passengers and especially in those who refuse to use their seatbelts. These are often severe and have led to severe visual loss in many cases.

Can we prevent such injuries? Since we have no control over other drivers on the road, we can take necessary precautions and preventive measures to mitigate the impact of any accident on our body. The use of seatbelts and wearing of protective eye glasses are very useful. If you wear eyeglasses in your everyday life, clear safety glasses are not enough since you cannot wear one on top of the other. You must consider a good pair of prescription safety glasses that are effective, stylish, and still provide excellent protection for your eyes. You may also purchase tinted lenses to reduce glare and low level solar radiation. Many of the patients who have such injuries would have been spared the agony of surgery and prolonged post-operative care had they used protective glasses.

If at any time you feel there is a foreign object in your eye, do not panic; never squeeze or rub your eye because those actions can cause the foreign object to become further lodged inside the eye damaging the inner structures. Go to the hospital immediately and it is strongly advised that you see an ophthalmologist. Delay can be dangerous.

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