Most people have probably experienced a few minor fender benders in their lifetime. Sometimes a more serious accident can occur. Sometimes an animal can jump out in front doing damage to the car. Accidents can happen anytime and anywhere. It just takes a split second to alter someone's life forever. Luckily I have never been in a major accident. The few that I have been in have been really minor. The largest animal that has crossed my path has been a raccoon. The raccoon has done some minor damage to my car and I was thankful the tires to my vehicle took its revenge.
In my first accident good ol' Murphy was looming nearby. I was 16 in the year of 1993 and received my license a few months before. I have been driving for some time before that as friends would let me drive their car. A guy that I was dating at the time and I wanted to do a little shopping. There was a Family Dollar Store on the other side of town, probably not on the best side of town, that I liked going to. My mom gave me strict instructions not to go on the other side of town and to stick on our side of the Saginaw River. I had the guy I was dating drive my mom's 1988 Cadillac Eldorado. That was another rule I was breaking that day. No one except immediate family was supposed to drive that car. He pulls into the strip mall parking lot and drives slowly down the main aisle. A lady who was not paying attention comes flying down one of the side aisles and T-bones the side of the Cadillac. A huge dent appeared in the side of the car. I felt doomed. Here I was in a place I wasn't supposed to be, with someone else driving the car and someone runs into me. Needless to say I was grounded for a long time.
Two years had passed. During that time we moved to Grandville. I was driving down Chicago Drive, with the same car as the previous accident, approaching the intersection of Wilson. There were a line cars in the right lane. I was in the left lane slowing down my speed to stop at the red light. A car in the right lane became inpatient and tried to steer into the left lane. He didn't look around before he made the maneuver because as he pulled out he rammed into the front right side of the Cadillac. The light cracked and there was damage all the way up to the door. The officer who came on the scene afterwards finished pulling off the trim off the wheel well cutting his hand. The other driver was cited for the accident. The Cadillac, again, had to be shipped off to the shop to get fixed.
That winter I was attending college at Grand Valley State University. I was driving through the campus one evening heading back to my dorm at Kistler Hall. I was stopping at every crosswalk letting students pass by. I look up in my rearview mirror and seen a plow truck, which is plow raised, coming right at me. His speed wasn't slowing. I looked ahead of me and watched the students walking in front of the Cadillac. I couldn't move. I closed my eyes and pressed harder on the break. SMASH! The car lurched forward. The students in front of the car jumped out of the way. I put the car into park and stepped outside. The driver of the plow truck put his truck in reverse a bit and stepped out of the truck. We both met behind the car to examine the damage. Amazingly there was none. Those who witnessed the accident even had to look. They were impressed that there wasn't even a ding on the bumper. We resumed on our way and I pulled into the parking lot near my dorm. The plow truck followed me. I was nervous as he already told me that he was watching other students and wasn't paying attention to the road. I didn't want him behind me again in case something else catches his eyes. I found my way to a parking spot and he parked the truck right behind the Cadillac. He got out of the vehicle. He told me he had to look again at my bumper and he was shocked that there wasn't any damage. He even admitted that he hit me rather hard too. I told him I could feel how hard he hit me.
The last accident I got into happened when I wasn't even in the vehicle. It was late in the year of 2005. I just dropped Christian, Elizabeth, and Ashton off to a private school they attended in Reed City. James was 3 years old and I had Halvor who was about 3 or 4 months old. Snow had fallen early that morning making things slick. A plow truck was shaving off the layer of snow and pushing it off to the side. I pulled into the local grocery store and parked up front. I was walking up to the doors when I had a feeling to turn around. As I did I noticed a car traveling towards my car. I looked at the wheels and I noticed they were not spinning. The car kept moving. All I could do was shake my head in disbelief as I watch her crash into the back side of our Plymouth Voyager. She did a great deal of damage to it. I head back to the van and place the boys back into their car seats. We exchange driver information. She was very apologetic. I remember thinking that she shouldn't apologize when in an accident because it proves she was a fault, even if she is at fault. I reassured her that I wasn't upset and I clearly seen that the weather played a factor to the incident. Her insurance ended up paying for the repair to my van even the co-pay.
I haven't had an accident since then.
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