A Littel Fender Bender

Rachel rear ended someone on her way home from school today. Erin called me to let me know it happened. She said that everyone was OK, and that their wasn't much damage done--a cracked bumper for us and a scratched bumper on the other car. That was good news. They asked what they needed to do, and I told them they needed to call the police if the damage was $1,000 or more. They both said they didn't think there was that much damage, and the other driver didn't even think there was anything worth repairing. So I told them to make sure they exchanged insurance information and come home if the car was driveable. It was, so they did.

Once they got home I walked to the car to check out the damage. It was then I realized that my idea of little damage didn't agree with theirs. The car Rachel hit had a trailer hitch that punched into the bumper--so it wasn't really cracked as much as it had a hole punched in it. The grill and hood were also damaged. I tried to open the hood to see if the engine looked OK, only to discover it had been tweaked enough that it would not open. I asked the girls how they thought this was "a little damage", and they said they hadn't noticed a lot of it. This just made me shake my head. Teenage drivers! I estimated the damage was between $2,000 & $3,000, which shocked both of the girls. And sure enough--the estimate was around $2,300. Thank goodness for insurance!

But in the end everything is OK. The other driver never made a claim, so their damage truly was minimal. No one was hurt. The girls learned what to do and what not to do after an accident. And even though we now have to deal with the inconvenience of being down one car (which means I drive the girls to seminary and school), the accident didn't cause too many problems. We'll just chalk it up to life, and be grateful that it wasn't worse.