Accidents

Here is my story from the past and the present for today:

Once upon a time, I had a 16 yr old daughter--a new driver who was involved in an accident. It was not at all her fault, and witnesses said that if she hadn't responded as she did [jumping the curb] it would have been a three car accident rather than two, and probably much worse for the two as well. I was always proud of her.

I made a huge mistake, though. My theory being "get back on the horse" the next day or so I sent her on a quick errand to the grocery store for one or two items. She drove past her turn and decided to cut through a bank drive through to get back on track. Unfortunately, the vehicle she was driving was a mini-van with a truck chassis [they're no longer made] and it had a wider than normal wheel base. [I drove off the edge of the road in it more than once.] She hit the bank drive-through. She called home and Dad went to the rescue. The bank manager was yelling at her when Dad arrived, and any anger he might have felt was totally directed at the "adult" bank manager who apparantly was acting as though my daughter drove into his bank on purpose! [Stupid people--it was an ACCIDENT! definition: not on purpose!]

Today I was riding with my new driver son. We were: 1] in Dad's car--Richard usually drives the CRV--a very different feel from the Crown Victoria! 2] on a sharp curve with traffic coming the other way [not really room for two vehicles at that spot] 3] the road narrows right at the curve and 4] the speedometer doesn't work in Dad's car--and Richard does not yet have a "feel" for how fast he is going, so he was approaching a little faster than he should have been.

And stupid me, I chose that time to look down and turn on the air conditioning! So I was not doing my job of telling him to slow down more going into that curve. Had there been no other cars coming, though, we'd have been fine. But he was overwhelmed, and unfortunately ran off the road. All I could see at that moment was the electric pole looming ahead, but he wrenched the car to a stop by hitting the wire fence instead. So the mirror broke off, the license plate came off the front, and there is a tear in the front bumper. several scratches on the passenger door, but we were able to drive away. Actually, I had the 20-something young man who stopped to help, manuver the car out of the fence and back on to the road, and then I illegally drove home as Richard was visably shaking.

I think now that most of the shaking was from fear--how mad would Dad get? He didn't. We've been here before.

When the daughter had the accident that totaled the car, no one was seriously hurt, but we got enough money from the accident to pay off what we owed on the car and to purchase our "new"[to us] van we really really needed at that time. I don't know what good will come from this accident, but I'm sure that something will. It always has before.

Sometimes it is good to be the youngest kid--your parents have been through it before--even if you haven't. Poor Richard.