Four of us from ICIS travelling to EPCA Berlin were in a head-on car crash on Saturday afternoon, but we walked away with only minor injuries. Nick, Ed, Dan and Barbara were in an airport taxi, a Mercedes estate car, which smashed head first at speed into an oncoming Skoda saloon car on the Kurfurstenstrasse, only minutes away from our conference hotel.
The four of us - three from the London editorial team, together with our European sales manager - watched as police and firefighters examined the wreckage of the cars and then towed them out of the way of the traffic.
Nick in the front seat was saved by the airbag.
"It's lucky that we all had our seat belts on," said Dan, as we counted our cuts and bruises, standing in the rain on the traffic island in the middle of firefighters, police and onlookers.
Photos from Dan's phone.
Can you top this EPCA "Journey from Hell" story? Contribute your own "A Funny thing happened to me on the way to the conference" tale (below).
The accident could have been worse, it could have wiped out the entire European end of the ICIS chemical shipping team. As luck would have it he only needed a drink.
The rest of the team were relieved to hear that our colleagues suffered no serious injury - and almost as relieved to know that we would have a perfect conversation-opener for the rest of EPCA...
The rest of the team were relieved to hear that our colleagues suffered no serious injury - and almost as relieved to know that we would have a perfect conversation-opener for the rest of EPCA...
It just goes to show how important it is to wear a seatbelt as a passenger in a taxi, or in any vehicle for that matter.
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Wow. That could have been so much worse. My heart sank when I first saw the headline. I was terrified! I am so glad everyone was okay. Gosh, I thought that kind of thing only happened in Mexico taxis! I hope you all are relaxing at home now. You deserve to take it easy a day or so.
I am so glad everyone is okay. This could have been so much worse. Take it easy guys.
It was certainly the talk of the show, and I was glad everyone was OK. Nick's one drink certainly seemed to calm him. I've since learned that fast erratic driving in Berlin is common, as I jumped in a cab with Stephen to head to a meeting and before getting my belt on was thrown to the seat in front of me in a quick stop. So as Julia said, Please Wear Your Seatbelts!