Accidents Happen!

It's true... accidents happen!!  And that's how the story of Baby Ford #3 begins.  Just kidding!! :)

My sister was over this morning for our weekly coffee break, and Danny remembered an important lesson... always check behind you while backing out of a driveway.  

This is my sister's new car.  She got it... oh, about 3 weeks ago!   I doubt that she and her husband have christened this car, so Danny took care of it.  He banged her real good!  And let me tell you, it's gonna leave a mark to remember!  Well, at least until we get it to a repair shop to make her all shiny and new again.  Patricia, if you're reading this... let me just say, "Whoops!" (and sorry) on behalf of the Ford Family! :)

We were brought up with a sense of humour, and not to sweat the small stuff... so when Danny came back into the house to tell us what he had done, Patricia did pretty much what I expected her to do.  She said "meh, it's only a car, we'll get it fixed."  In fact, knowing Patricia, she probably apologized to Danny!  "Sorry, Danny... I shouldn't have left the car parked in the side of your driveway where it wasn't in anybody's way!!"  Danny, of course, felt horrible!  But what's done is done, and that's what insurance is for! :)

It's funny how it happens though... and this accident was pretty inevitable, really.  There have been a few times that I've been backing out, only to realize there was a car parked to the side of me.  It's just unfortunate that Danny was the first to not miss the car by mere milimetres.  It's also unfortunate this car was brand-spanking new.

I have done almost this exact same thing once... it was prom night, 2002.  My brother returned from the car wash, and his lovely Toyota Camry was so pretty, and shiny, and waxed up real nice!  He was dressed all purrty, and was just about ready to head out to pick up his date.  I was on my way to work in my beautiful Geo Metro and I backed up and heard that sound... *crunch*  Yup, drove right into the side of Leslie's newly-detailed car.  Whoops!! :)

Then there was the time that Leslie flipped that beautiful Geo Metro on an icy road.  After crawling out of the window of the upside-down car, and sludging through a snow drift to get himself onto the road to call my dad, I believe he said something along the lines of "dad, I forgot to turn the car off!!"

That same Geo Metro was also involved in a little scraper when I was driving down the north mountain in the pouring rain.  The road wasn't paved, and I got caught up in some loose dirt and a rain rut, spun the car around 3 times, knocked over a little tree, scratched the paint a little on the side, and ended up in the ditch.  We pushed her out, carried on our way, and I told my dad about it later that night.  Sorry, mom, we probably didn't feel the need to tell you about it then... but, on behalf of 19-year old me, "whoops!!"  :)

And in case that wasn't enough trauma for my poor little Geo Metro, my dad also wrote her off once after being hit by a gentleman in a snowstorm.  She was a tiny little car, but God, did I love her! :)

When I called to tell my mom and dad about the damage we inflicted on Patricia's car today, she told me a story about how she was rear-ended by a woman on a cell phone at a stop light.  They got out, surveyed the damage, realized there was nothing to really worry about, and carried on... only to have the same woman rear-end my mother again at the next stop light!

And there was the time that my mother was backing into a parking space at a church dinner, and smacked a tree with our station wagon.  She turned around in the seat, said "don't tell your dad," and proceeded to move to a different parking spot, only to hit a different tree!

And, not to pick on my mother, but she also hit our house once.  Not quite sure how you can miss a house in your review mirror, but she certainly didn't miss it with the car!! :)

My brother, in his brand new car, also pulled out in front of somebody once (whoops!) and had his car rear-ended and smashed in 2 days before moving to Ontario.

Patricia had a man back up at a street light, right down the side of her car.  Not quite sure why you would back up at a stop light, but I am quite sure he wont do it again!  She was also rear-ended by a lady at an intersection once, but she sent her on her way without getting any information after she realized there was no damage to her car... except that her bumper fell off once she got home.  

So needless to say... accidents happen (apparently, quite a lot in our family!)!  It's good to have a sense of humour about things!   Just carry on, and start your own collection of embarrassing car moments!  I'm sure my whole family is thrilled I shared all of their stories with you!! :)  Especially my mother, she loves it when I tell that tree story.  So just remember people... there's no point crying over scraped paint!!