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At Least They Walked Away From It

ScarletKnight41 Sep 14 2006 09:34 AM

Impulse2 has had her driver's license for a grand total of one week. Today was the first day that she was going to drive herself to school. She was even nice enough to offer her 13-year-old brother a ride to middle school. I told her to phone me when she got to school. Just before I was going out to run, the phone rings. My first thought was that there was not enough time for the kids to have gotten to school. That's because they didn't make it. From what I can gather, the long and the short of it is that my daughter mistimed her left turn on a busy road, and she got hit by an 18-wheeler. The phone call was from a neighbor of mine, who told me that there was an accident, but both of the kids were ok. So at least I knew from the beginning that the kids were alright. The car, however, was not so lucky. But man, if I didn't love Subarus before, I love them now - the airbags deployed, and the kids suffered nothing worse than some cuts and some bruises. We're all a little shaken, but thank goodness everyone is physically ok.

cooby Sep 14 2006 09:35 AM

Oh no! I'm so glad they're okay!

ScarletKnight41 Sep 14 2006 09:42 AM

Thanks.

SteveJRogers Sep 14 2006 09:44 AM

Amen to that SK.

Edgy DC Sep 14 2006 09:45 AM

Sorry. I mistiimed a left turn when I was 18 and got kaslammed by a speeding van. I hobbled away badly bruised but nothing broken. My mom's Buick was unrecognizable. The imprint of the seatbelt was on my torso for a week. Very glad they're OK.

ScarletKnight41 Sep 14 2006 09:47 AM

Impulse2 has one of those imprints as well. Thanks guys. Now off to Pearle Vision to get replacement glasses for my son....

MFS62 Sep 14 2006 09:48 AM

My oldest daughter got into an accident the first time she drove solo, too. She got hit by a guy who was trying to beat a light. And she had her younger sister in the car. I'm glad to hear they're ok. Later

metirish Sep 14 2006 09:49 AM

SK I am so happy that all is ok.

seawolf17 Sep 14 2006 09:49 AM

Wow. Thankfully everyone's fine. /runs to hug MiniWolf

soupcan Sep 14 2006 10:11 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 14 2006 10:17 AM

Wow is right. That is a scary story. Were you apprehensive at all this morning letting her drive in the rain? Did the rain play a part in the accident?

Yancy Street Gang Sep 14 2006 10:14 AM

I can imagine your relief, Scarlett. Sheesh. I'm not looking forward to when my kids are old enough to drive. Maybe we'll instead move to some island somewhere that's too small for automobiles.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 14 2006 10:16 AM

Manhattan? Glad to hear everyone survived.

sharpie Sep 14 2006 10:17 AM

yikes. glad to hear that everyone is well.

HahnSolo Sep 14 2006 10:18 AM

Holy cow. Glad everybody is OK. I'll hug my kids a little tighter when I get home tonight.

ScarletKnight41 Sep 14 2006 11:11 AM

I think this was less the result of the rain than simple inexperience. It didn't help that she had to make a left turn on what is known in this township to be a dangerous intersection. It suxx that there is no safe route with good visibility between our house and the kids' schools.

seawolf17 Sep 14 2006 11:17 AM

Wait... I thought you weren't allowed to make left turns in NJ? Fricking jughandles.

SwitchHitter Sep 14 2006 11:27 AM

Oh my, I'm glad everyone's okay. I hate left turns.

Rockin' Doc Sep 14 2006 01:09 PM

I'm just glad to hear that all are okay.

ScarletKnight41 Sep 14 2006 02:24 PM

Thanks everyone. I think we're just going to be shaken up for the next few days. But, thankfully, that and dealing with the insurance company will be the worst of it.

Centerfield Sep 14 2006 03:43 PM

Thank goodness everyone is ok.

ScarletKnight41 Sep 15 2006 04:47 PM

The kids are doing much better today, although Impulse2 is freaked out because she'll have to appear in traffic court next month. OTOH, I think I might be able to get the ticket thrown out on a technicality. Insurance will still get us for the accident, but getting the points thrown out would be nice.

Willets Point Sep 15 2006 06:40 PM

Glad to hear that everyone made it out okay. I remember the first day I had my license I was giving a friend a ride home. He asked to turn up the heat. I looked down for a moment to adjust the knob and when I looked up again I was driving on the side of the road. I swerved back onto the pavement but under the same circumstances could have easily hit a tree or another car. And it all happened so quick. Scary stuff.

silverdsl Sep 19 2006 10:08 AM

I just saw this now - I'm glad everyone was okay!! Good luck with traffic court and dealing with the insurance company. I got into an accident myself over the summer and my car was totaled so I know how pesty it can be to get everything resolved.

ScarletKnight41 Sep 19 2006 10:22 AM

Thanks. We'll get it all resolved. My husband is good at these things. It's going to cost us in terms of our premiums, but we'll deal with that. An advantage of crashing in our township is that the court is just a couple of miles down the road. I'm glad that you're ok too!

metsmarathon Sep 19 2006 11:01 AM

left turns from stop signs always worry me when i've got a rental that i'm unfamiliar with, and even moreso on roads that i'm unfamiliar with. i'm very happy i never had to deal with many of those in my formative driving years. all of our left turns onto dangerously busy roads were covered by stoplights. glad everything is ok. do the kids have any reluctance getting in the car now? and what was the ticket for - just a means of assigning blame in the accident?

ScarletKnight41 Sep 19 2006 11:11 AM

There was a light at the intersection, but it's still a tricky one with less than ideal visibility. There was a similar accident at the same intersection about a month ago (a 17 year old driver mistimed a left and got clipped by an SUV. In that case, the SUV rolled over and seriously injured a biker. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries with this accident). There has been talk about changing the light to only allow turns with a green arrow, but I think they're waiting for a bigger body count before getting past their inertia and actually making the change. The ticket was for failing to yield - 2 points. Yes, probably a way to assign responsibility for the accident, although the insurance company would have figured it out even without the ticket. The kids have been in the car many times since the accident, passing through the same intersection often. There's no choice about it - there is nothing within walking distance of our house.

metsmarathon Sep 19 2006 01:34 PM

ah. got it. wasn't sure where the truck was coming from (on coming lanes versus crossing lanes). there's a pretty dangerous one of those where i grew up - for getting into an A&P parking lot. there'd often be some big ugly accident on it, rarely involving only two vehicles. hasn't been fixed yet...

ScarletKnight41 Sep 20 2006 03:21 PM

Not only does Impulse2 have to appear in traffic court next month, but I learned that, since the police report listed him as having injuries, her brother has to appear as well. To say that he was injured is really an overstatement - he had a couple of cuts and bruises, but nothing of any import. So instead of spending the afternoon in school, the kid is going to have to hang out in court, and I'm going to have to keep two kids calm instead of one. Ugh!

cooby Sep 20 2006 03:23 PM

Calm? They're teenagers

ScarletKnight41 Sep 20 2006 03:37 PM

My daughter is hysterical at the thought of having to appear in court, and I'm sure that her hysteria will make my son uneasy.

cooby Sep 20 2006 03:40 PM

Yeah, I see your point

cooby Sep 20 2006 05:13 PM

Scarlet, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to seem rude before. It's just that most teenagers are the very essence of calm, but of course being in traffic court would shake anyone up. I'm sure the judge has seen it all though, and will most likely be very gentle with the kids.

ScarletKnight41 Sep 20 2006 05:20 PM

I'm sure the judge and the personnel will be fine. It's just getting them there and to the point of the process beginning where my daughter is apt to freak out. And it just seems to be unnecessary to drag a 13-year-old through the process when his mother and legal guardian can represent to the court that he's fine.

Hillbilly Sep 20 2006 05:42 PM

Scary stuff. But I'm glad they are OK. Good luck with court.

ScarletKnight41 Sep 20 2006 05:44 PM

Thanks Hillbilly. It's not helping my daughter's anxiety that every ambulance chaser in the county is sending her letters offering to represent her. They're warning her that a guilty plea to failing to yield can result in things such as the loss of her license, and even incarceration. Yeah, right, I say. But I'm not a 17-year-old getting these letters.

ScarletKnight41 Oct 11 2006 03:55 PM

Traffic court is done. They did not incarcerate my daughter or take away her license. They let her plead down to a no points violation with a minimal fine ($56, plus court costs). All in all, it could have been much worse.

Willets Point Oct 11 2006 03:56 PM

Taking away dollars is always better than taking away points in the long run. I'm glad that's over for all of you.

ScarletKnight41 Oct 11 2006 03:59 PM

Well, points turn into insurance company dollars. And thanks - it's nice to have this behind us.

Willets Point Oct 11 2006 04:12 PM

ScarletKnight41 wrote: Well, points turn into insurance company dollars. That's what I meant. Better to pay a fine than have insurance rates go up.

Centerfield Oct 11 2006 04:40 PM

ScarletKnight41 wrote: It's not helping my daughter's anxiety that every ambulance chaser in the county is sending her letters offering to represent her. They're warning her that a guilty plea to failing to yield can result in things such as the loss of her license, and even incarceration. ... Traffic court is done. They did not incarcerate my daughter or take away her license. Well, she's lucky then. So can I have my letters back? I re-use those things ya know.

Zvon Oct 11 2006 05:33 PM

SK--really glad all is okay and all.

ScarletKnight41 Oct 11 2006 07:13 PM

Thanks Z.