Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Thank goodness for airbags!



The bad part of my day... that phone call every mom of driving teenager fears. "I've been in an accident"... This is what's left of our '99 Chevy Prism after t-boning a Toyota Sequoia. My son was driving straight up the street when the other car pulled out of a side street to make a left hand turn. He slammed on the brakes but couldn't avoid the accident. All I can say is thank goodness for airbags!!! My son was pretty shaken up, is a bit bruised from the airbag(his chest hurts!), but is OK. The Sequoia was driven by a 17 year old girl with two passengers. The kids were all out of school for lunch hour.

When I arrived on the scene I made sure Matt was OK, talked to the sheriff and when the paramedics were finally done with them I walked over and spoke to the girls. I wanted to make sure they were OK. The three girls were pretty upset, the driver in tears but otherwise seemed fine. I felt really bad for them. I asked if their parents had come because they seemed quite alone. The driver pointed out a man walking around taking pictures and said it was her dad. It struck me as weird that the dad never came and said anything to my son or to me. He never even made eye contact with us. I keep thinking that if my son had caused the accident, I would have spoken to the other party, made sure nobody was hurt, apologized, discussed insurance or something. Does that seem odd to anyone besides me?

So Matt's poor car is toast, I suppose the good thing is that it wasn't his fault, although I have to admit that I'm just so thankful he is OK I'm not even worried about the car or the blame. I've never been in accident were airbags deployed. He said it was pretty scary. His knit hat got knocked right off his head, and if you look at the windshield you can see cracks on the passenger side where the airbag broke the window. He said the scariest thing was getting out of the car, feeling dazed, and realizing that nobody was getting out of the other car. He was afraid they were really hurt, and was quite relieved when he found out they were fine. I'm glad they had side curtain airbags.

So hug your kids, as you never know when something bad can happen!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sooooooooo glad your son is fine and the other girls are as well. Kids on lunch break from high school - another good reason for a closed campus!
I was in an accident 2 years ago, not my fault, and the lady that hit me never asked me if I was ok either - weird reaction. Guilt?

Lori Greenberg said...

I'm glad Matt is ok. My sister was in an accident once where the air bags deployed (?) and she said she was stunned unconscious for a moment and when she woke up thought she had died and was in heaven because there was white powder floating all around her from the air bag.

As for the dad, he's probably obsessed with his blog and had to get pictures. :) Seriously...that is pretty odd and I feel sad for his daughter.

Unknown said...

I agree Linda, it's guilt. Probably the same reason that when people do something wrong - like pull across an intersection in front of you - they look the other way. Have you ever noticed that?

Looking the other way absolves guilt!

I'm glad Matt is fine.

*HUGZ*

Anonymous said...

I am so glad to hear your son made it out okay with only a few bumps and bruises, same goes for the the other passengers in the other vehichle. When I hear about these accidents/crashes, my heart just goes BOOM...My nephew was killed by a drunk driver nearly 4 years ago now at 5:30 a.m. as he was driving home from work. The person who drove the other car never checked on Kortney, never said a word to the passenger in the car Kortney was driving - he just left him to die. He instead took off running. Kortney was killed pretty much instantly at one end of the block of which he just so happened to live with his parents at the other end of the very same block... He was just one block from home, one block from safety. The person who killed Kortney and injured several others never expressed being sorry or hint of remorse. They picked fights with our family at nearly every court hearing as well as the day of sentencing.

Yes, you are so right in saying hug your children. Our family has learned that lesson only too well. So, please hug your children every chance you get, as life can be taken in a blink of an eye...literally... And, most certainly, please never drink and drive. The aftermath is devastating.

Again, I am so very glad that your son is okay (except for the bumps and bruises). I am so glad to know that he was thoughtful and worried about the other vehicle's passengers. I know you must be very proud of him as well. :)

Jim Noll said...

Dude, Next time do it right, if the car is not on it's top and all four wheels are still on it then it is only a fender bender.