Nissan Sunny Tragedy 7 December 2008

Anybody reading this blog will consider me a child. But the words of people surrender in front of emotions. It has been 13 years now, but I couldn’t forget the incident or the trauma of it! Now, let’s go to the main topic.

Till now we have changed our car nine times. My father used to work in “Aqua consultant” as an engineer before 1995. He was given a Toyota Light Ace and then a Toyota Publica by the company. He left Aqua and joined Danida in 1995. Hence, he returned his car back to Aqua. I was only a nursery student that time. I have always had a special interest in cars since childhood. So, I used to insist my father to buy a new car ever since! On 4th November of 1995, we bought the Nissan Sunny car. I liked the car. 5 years passed by as such.

My father was given a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado by Danida in the year 2000. That Prado was in trend then. Nissan Sunny used to stay idle in the parking area of our apartment. And then, everyone in the family used to like to ride in Prado more.

As such, my father decided to sell the Nissan Sunny. Hearing this I was too heart broken! I even cried alone for it! I was determined to not let it be sold. My tantrums finally stopped the idea of selling it. The Nissan Sunny stayed with us. Although the Prado was used too often, Nissan was used when we visited the outskirts of the city or went to our village.

This photo was taken on June 30th, 1997 while we were coming to Dhaka from Noakhali after my father was transferred to Dhaka’s head office of DANIDA. That time, the car was white

Six years passed by. In 2006, we returned the Prado to Danida. We started to use Nissan Sunny frequently again from then on. I preferred this more. When we bought it, the Nissan Sunny’s color was white. Later we painted it Bluish Ash in 2006. The car became more lucrative! 

After 1 year, my father expressed his interest in buying an SUV(that we call a Jeep usually). But he decided to keep the Nissan Sunny as per my preference. I was happy about this. But my mother didn’t want to keep both cars. So my father was left with the option to either sell the Nissan and buy the Jeep or just keep the Nissan. However I knew my father wanted to ride an SUV, so I prioritized his will and I told him to sell off the Nissan, without emphasizing upon my will. Honda CRV was bought as our 7th car on January 2008, and buyers were sought for Nissan Sunny. 

The Prado that was given by Danida to my father was driven by a driver named Masud. When he heard we were selling Nissan off, he became interested upon buying it to give it on rent. My father agreed and sold the car. We sold it for a fairsome sum even though it was an 89 model’s car. Days passed by and 7th December 2008 arrived!

Mr. Masud gave rent to a person for a trip to Dinajpur. So, the person set off on his journey with the car in the morning, and though he reached safely up to Bogura but then…

A bus came and ferociously hit the Nissan. In moments, it dented and crippled the car! We had the car for 13 years from 1995 to 2008. There had not been even a single scratch in all these years when we used it. But, within one year of selling it to another person, the car shattered. I couldn’t control two things then, one was my anger and another was my emotion. That day, I couldn’t control my emotion. I still get sad about that car incident and its loss.

The above incident motivated me the most to work upon the vehicle safety system. And, at present, I am making myself prepared likewise.

I still feel bad for my decision to sell the Nissan Sunny. Why did I ever agree? In foreign countries, many possess more than one car. If we could have accepted ideology then, the car could have been saved. Whatever happened, I’m finishing here with the hope everyone stays in good health.