Chris totalled the PT Cruiser tonight while running a red light and hitting a small pickup. Both Chris and the other driver were unharmed. (Thank God for airbags!)

It's one of those calls that no parent wants to get: "Your son has been in a very serious car accident..." Mom and I rushed down to the intersection about 2 miles from home to find him on one of the body boards all bound up as a precaution. The EMT said he was probably OK, just didn't want to take any chances because he did have some pain in his shoulder.

She rode with him in the ambulance to be checked out at the emergency room while I found the registration and insurance information.

Fortunately (or unfortunately DOYPOV) a police car was stopped at the red light as Chris zipped past him and struck the pickup.

Another police officer showed up at the emergency room a couple of hours later to ask him his version then cited him for running the light.

Tomorrow the insurance agent! My question: "Oh, man what is THIS going to do to our already high insurance cost?"

Chris' question: "Am I ever going to get to drive again?"

the best thing was that no one was seriously hurt.

Been through that about 20 years ago with both my son and daughter. First, be thankful that no one was hurt either in your family or the pickup. Second, find out what your insurance company is going to with your insurance and third, have your son get his own insurance if he is old enough or have him pay the difference between what your insurance WAS before he started driving and what it IS now. It worked with my family. It's amazing what paying the difference out of their own pocket will do for a driving record.

So glad to hear that there were no serious injuries. Hopefully the "day after" pains are not too bad. I've been through a number of accidents myself and I know the headache of dealing with the insurance companies. I hope things go as smooth as possible for your family.

shirin

Glad to hear Chris is OK, John. This time of the life of our children that is the most stressful. Luckily the car can be fixed or replaced, insurance is only money, and Chris and the other driver are fine.
hang-in-there,
Bob

Glad to hear your son's okay, John.

This is why I always look both ways before I go through a light that has just turned green. I've seen more motorists whiz through red lights than I can count.

It's already been said- the important thing is no serious injuries.

I've been in similar situations with my kid's. I didn't get the call from the Police- I went out looking for my son who was uncharacteristically late coming home from work.

I came over a hill on the street I knew he drove home on and say lights flashing and then I saw our Toyota wrapped around a tree.

Thankfully Doug was OK, but just as luckily no one was in the pasenger seat as they would not have been.

I almost got arrested as I got into it with the Policeman on the scene as to why we were not called (it was almost an hour after the accident). His response was they didn't know the phone number. The accident happened about 1 mile from our house in the same town. I told him what I thought of his escuse and he took exceotion to it.

All ended well- we got a new car and Doug hasn't had a similar accident since then. He's was 17 at the time and is now 28.

Dennis

John, Susie, Chris, and the pickup driver,

Thank God that all are safe! That is the most important thought at this time.

Amen!

Glad everybody is OK!! John, I'm just down the street, if you need anything!

Glad Chris is ok. Man I remember the night I had to call my dad and tell him I had totaled his S-10 Blazer. He flipped his lid, after I flipped his Truck!

I've seen plenty of similar situations. The important thing is no one was hurt.

My recommendations to parents is to encourage their children to get their own vehicles. All inexperienced drivers will be involved in some sort of a crash sooner or later. It's better they wreck their own car than the family vehicle.

Kids/teenagers/new drivers have a tendency to not believe that anything bad could happen to them. They are in their own little world and not cognizant of their surroundings. I see all age groups drive through red lights and stop signs. They think nothing of it even though a person or persons have been killed at that same intersection because someone went through the light.

There's a joke about a police officer stopping a person for not stopping at a stop sign. The guy claims he slowed down and that was basically the same as stopping. The police officer then asked the guy what he would do if he was dragged from the car and a beating was being administered. Would he ask the police officer to stop or just slow down because slowing down is the same as stopping.

Sorry for your problems, JC. I guess it will be time to go car shopping again.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Sure glad Chris is okay John...I bet he saw the police vehicle and because of that he missed the red light ...I'm sure he will be sore for a few days.
Ruthie

I am very glad that Chris and everyone is doing OK.. I know its a call that you dont want to receive. I know because we got one of those calls years ago when my daughter Diana was in a crash in West Virgina but everyone came out of that OK also. The car was a total loss also. But just remember that you can replace a car but not a life. Hal

Thank goodness everyone is alright. Jeff sees this kind of thing everday. I think he could write a book on what the owners of the cars tell him when they come in to get an estimate, or get their belongings out of their totaled vehicles.

It seems to me that everyone is in a hurry to get there and forget to keep looking at the area surrounding them for cars blowing through traffic lights, stop signs, not using of turn signals, people talking on phones, eating, even reading a newspaper, etc., etc..

Around here we call them Holland drivers.

2beacons

Hopefully Chris isn't too sore after the wreck. Glad to hear that he is OK!

We had a safety film at work a few years ago about traffic lights. One thing mentioned in the film was looking both ways even if you have the green light. I had an experience after seeing this film that I will never forget.

I was on a side road waiting for the light to change. The light changed green and I started to cross the four lanes of traffic. Remembering the film from my recent past, I looked both ways and coming southbound was a car with a young "man" driving and apparently not paying attention to the light. When he realized it was red, he applied his brakes, but not fast enough and slid through the intersection. Lucky for me and him, no one got hit! I know I would have been hit by him if I wasn't looking!

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!

Great news, John that noone was hurt. If you want to know approximately what the insurance company will say to you, just ask me. My son rearended a car about a month ago as a result of not paying attention. All I have to say is, OUCH!

Tim

I'm extremely glad both my sons are grown and made it through the early driving years without getting hurt or wrecking one of my vehicles.

Kids will always be kids and you hope and pray they survive those first few years of driving without anything really bad happening to them.

Here's the ultimate nightmare for two families. This is a true story but the names have been changed to protect the innocent/guilty parties.

16 year old unlicensed Johnny decides to take his mother's Ford Expedition for a joy ride around 0200 hours. He picks up his 15 year old friend Billy for this secret cruise around town. Mom has no idea that favorite son has taken her vehicle.

While young unlicensed and inexperienced Johnny is driving around he makes a left turn on to Rte 140 near the center of Foxboro, Massachusetts. Johnny quickly notices a car coming up from behind then suddenly sees blue flashing lights. What Johnny doesn't know is that police car behind him is headed to a personal injury accident out on rte 95. Johnny immediately thinks the cops are after him so he decides he is going to out run them.

The police officer was doing around 45-50 mph coming up on the center of town, less than one-quarter mile away. Suddenly the police officer sees the Expedition accelerate to near 80 mph. The police officer can't believe his eyes. Was this a drunk in front of him? Was this a stolen car?

The police officer doesn't accelerate because he knows there is a ninety degree turn right ahead and you'll never make it safely over 30 mph. The police office then watches in horror as the Expedition continues to accelerate, slams through an iron fence and crashes head on into a large tree on the local common. The 15 year old passenger is killed instantly. The 16 year old operator survives but spends several weeks in the hospital. Now he is being charged with many motor vehicle violations including vehicular homicide.

Both kids were good kids. They were star athletes at the local high school. They never been in any trouble. Now one is dead, the other's life is ruined, and two families are destroyed. All this tragedy and horror just because Johnny decided he would take his mother's car to impress his friend.

Please speak to your kids about the responsibilities that come with driving a motor vehicle. Teach them to never run from the police. The chances of getting away are slim and none. Drill into their heads that they must always wear their seat belt. Make sure they understand that they are not a professional driver on a closed course when they are behind the wheel. Kids can very easily exceed their driving capabilities and the capabilities of the family car to perform safely.

People do stupid things behind the wheel. I'm not just talking about kids, the adults can be worse. In most cases a car is the second biggest investment a person has next to their home. Why do people flagrantly break the law knowing there's a chance they could wreck their car, get seriously hurt of killed, and then have some lawyer sue them for everything they have now or might earn in the future.

Trust me, I see it happen all the time...

Bob

I got the word today that the CRUZZR has officially been 'totalled'. I also got the offer from my insurance company - and it was a very fair one - a couple of thousand more than I thought they would make.

Today I found another PT Cruiser a year newer (2002 vs. 2001) with 22,000 fewer miles on it (14,500 vs. 36,500) and otherwise identical equipment.

The difference between what I have to pay for the 2002 and the settlement for the 2001 is $350 in my favor including my $500 deductible, taxes, doc and title.

BTW, the insurance company is American Family. Now highly recommended. They have been very good at responding to my questions and keeping me informed.

The new Cruiser is 'deep cranberry' -- kind of a dark purple color.

Now the real question is: Will you let Chris drive it?

Here comes the pin into the balloon....

Will you be stuck paying an insurance surcharge, JC? Up here in Massachusetts, you can drive for 50 years without an accident or a motor vehicle violation then suddenly when you do become involved in a crash, they get you. A mere perponderance that you were somewhat negligent will lead to a $250 a year surcharge for up to six years. Then they also raise your insurance fees because you had a claim. They could care less that you never had a claim in the past.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Yeah, Bob. That's the 'unknown' right now. What will the insurance rate go to?

We have a lot of uninsured motorists in AZ, although every registered vehicle MUST be insured in order to get plates and there is some coordination between DMV and the insurance companies. (When a policy lapses, the insurance company sends a notice to the DMV which sends notices to the owners.)

However, if your insurance has ever lapsed, when you go to get insurance, some companies will NOT insure you. If they are willing to insure you, you are put in a different class with about DOUBLE the rates simply based on the fact that you 'violated the law' and didn't have continuous insurance.

This high rate MAY go down after a year of continuous insurance, but you'd have to know that and ask the company to change your category.

This simply makes having insurance totally out of the question for the working poor and the result is a continuation of a high percentage of Arizona drivers without insurance.

Insurance companies have a powerful lobby in state goverment and the laws are unlikely to change.

The best state auto insurance laws are the "no-fault" laws in Michigan. You buy vehicle insurance there and the insurance company is insuring YOUR car. If another driver hits you, you go to YOUR insurance company and they pay you. You don't need to fight the other guy's insurance company to get paid. If the other guy isn't insured, he can't get anything from YOUR company, no matter who was at fault.

(At least that was the way it worked when I left Michigan almost 20 years ago.)

And then, the devil created lawyers...

And here's a photo of 'Moby Grape', CRUZZR II

Drive careful with this one!!!

Wow, that sure is purple! If that car doesn't work out maybe you could get Chris one of these???

http://www.gemcar.com/

Sue, I'm sure there are plent of those GEMs out in the AZ area, but they are all probably in the retirement communities. Ruthie probably has one. . .

As for Chris, maybe a good old early 60's Chevy with lots and lots of big steel all around.

LOL Dave...that was so funny I forgot to laugh ... John, I like the color on this one better.
Ruthie

Sue, Ruthie and the "Erkel Mobile".

Let 'em have it, Ruthie!! YOU GO GIRL!!!!