At Least It Still Runs This Time

[magicofisis]

My daughter has managed to sideswipe the entire side of my car again. Same side. At least this time, it was a mailbox rather than a another car. *headdesk* My guesstimate is approximately $2500, but it's hard to know for sure. She and her dad went back to the scene of the accident where they are going to assess the damage to said mailbox and try to

Comments

[crumplehornedki]

Oh dear - time for the darling to save for her own car? She clearly didn't learn from the first accident.

I imagine your insurance company is rubbing it's hands together right about now *frowns*

and to top it all off she lied - it is the one thing I say to my children all the time, 'I'm more angry that you lied to me than that you xxxxx".

*hands over drink*

[magicofisis]

*grabs drink* Thanks!

The thing that baffles me is that she is still insisting that she is not a "bad driver". Um, two accidents says that's not true. You're absolutely right that no learning occurred.

And the lying? That's really the only punishable offense at our house. I can tolerate mistakes, accidents and lapses of judgment. But lying is willfully wrong.

[mrsquizzical]

i think it would be completely reasonable (and even non-punitive, just natural consequencey) to say that she's not able to drive your car until she's in a position to pay for fixing damages.

she can get a cheap car for the price of all these repairs./o\

[magicofisis]

Well, she's definitely going back to having to drive with a parent for a while. The problem she has is that she gets flustered when she hits something and either forgets to step on the brake or else hits the accelerator instead. If she just would have slammed on the brakes, it would have been just a little bumper dent instead of the whole side of the car.

She could get a cheap car, but she won't be able to afford the insurance!

[quill2006]

Hmmm...once isn't terribly surprising for a fairly new driver, but twice? Is she possibly using her phone while driving, or being too busy talking to a friend instead of paying attention? Or is she non-spatially aware? I remember being a new driver, and it often felt as though the car wasn't doing what I expected it to do; I rear-ended another car because I wasn't accustomed to stopping suddenly in the rain, and didn't realize I was following too closely

[magicofisis]

I think you said it - she is completely spatially unaware. The problem is that I don't really know how to teach her to be more aware. Experience, I guess.

We just got the estimate - in the neighborhood of $3000. She's never going to be able to pay that. Right now she's grounded, but it's for lying and not for the accident. I have zero tolerance for lying.

Your parents sound pretty harsh - but the fact that you still remember it means that the punishment had an impact on you! I might have to try a less severe version of that method.

[shocolate]

Children driving is ridiculous!!!

She doesn't need to drive.

[magicofisis]

I actually agree with you on this one. However, public transportation is so non-existent here that it's a lot easier for me if she can drive herself places. That is, unless she crashes my car. But I guess we're going back to me driving her places for a while.

[magicofisis]

I don't think we can afford to let her drive any more!

She is still paying me back for the ticket she got from the last accident! I might have to insist that she get a job and then garnish her wages, though.

It's very frustrating!