Flipped Car...

Just thought I'd share some of these pix I took of my daughter's crazy adventure yesterday. She's fine. Her boyfriend was driving and didn't bother to look in the blind spot on a lane change - next thing they know, they're upside down. He's a little banged up but after observation, will be released today.
Oy vey... At least they're ok. No one else was involved thank God. I mean, thank God we live in the desert.. imagine this same scene if it happened in a city setting.


 

 

 
 

 

Did someone hit them to flip them?  How does a simple lane change flip someone over?

Apparently he freaked when he realized he was gonna hit the black truck in his blind spot (perhaps the guy honked, or Celia screamed, Idk), she said they fish-tailed and he lost control, slid off the road (see the skid marks^) and hit the berm. It's easy to figure out from the other side of the car as you can see where the car was pretty much sideways in the skid and hit the berm (which blasted dirt everywhere at the impact spot) and being almost sideways when they hit it, it just flipped the car. Only once though. Crazy

Yikes!  I'm so glad they're alright!  Modern cars these days do a pretty good job of protecting their passengers, and God's angels certainly do too.      When my college roommate accidentally drove us off the side of Mount Lassen one night, we rolled numerous times, hit multiple trees along the way, and both walked out basically completely unscathed.  God is good!

Yikes scary indeed! Glad to hear they are both ok. Any news on if the car is totaled?

Not helping me in letting my Daughter drive.

Blind spots are very dangerous. Glad they're ok.

Glad everyone is all right!

Glad to hear they are OK.

Thanks all. Me too.

The car is def totaled. Twas old and probably could be repaired as the frame appeared to me to be still clean - but it ain't worth putting any money into.

Since they're both ok, I'm thinking he needs to pay my daughter the 1000 bucks she could've got out of it.    Luckily she has a new(er) car, and this one was loaned to him by her.   

Redeemed Fool: Your daughter will be alright, just don't let any "boyfriend's" drive her.  

Right. And as she heads off to college......

^ difficult day indeed. In 2006 my daughter got in the white car (that's now totaled) loaded with all her stuff, and as the sun was still rising, kissed and hugged us goodbye, then got in her car and literally road into the sunrise off to college 8 hours away. We cried, but then the realization set in that we just successfully raised our first to 18 and sent her on her way. It's a great feeling.

Only thing I don't like is, I planned on getting our kids to 18 and sending them into the world and enjoying freedom from parenting !
Nope. What they say is true. Though you may send them out of the nest, you never stop being their parents - the worrying and heart-dropping experiences are still there. The great advantage we have as believers is, we know they are in His hands and He answers our prayers. He is faithful to help us stop worrying and trust Him for those times when 'a car gets rolled' or whatever.
Things are going to happen. It's how we handle and include God in those things.

Redeemed Fool, just trust God for her safety and pray for her everyday. God WILL protect her. Just be sure to pound into her brain the dangers of specific things (the long list of foolish decisions that can be made).

I know and i've been through it once already but it isn't easier the second time.

Just curious, how does driver's ed work in the US? Here in Ontario, kids can get learner's permits at 16; if they take optional in-class and in-car lessons they can receive their independent permits after 8 months, and if not, after 12 months.

One vehicle that takes rollovers really well is a Jeep Wrangler, thanks to the roll cage. When my grandpa died in a car crash almost two years ago, he hit a Wrangler in a glancing head-on on a major highway. Amazingly, the guy driving the Jeep escaped without significant injuries after rolling into the ditch, despite not having his seatbelt on.

I don't remember the details, but we paid to have our kids go to a Driver's Ed at 15 years old. Great place in Palm Desert that taught way more than the public schools do (and cost quite a bit, but is worth it in the long run) and it's faster than pub school.
By the time both my kids turned 16 they both had their licenses and were ready for to hit the streets.

When do kids get to drive by themselves?

It's been a while, but if I remember correctly: After instructional and hands on training, when the kid turns 15 & 1/2, he gets a provisional license, and can only drive with a licensed adult in the car. This lasts for 6 months. after that he can drive by himself at 16 with his actual license - only passengers he can have are adults, no one under 18 can be his/her passenger.

I'm about 80% sure I got all that right.
It's been many years since we did all this with our kids. And when WE were teens back in the early/mid 80s, it was WAY simple. We took classes and hands on in the public school. If we passed all that, then when we turned 16, we caught a ride to the DMV, took a written test, a quick behind the wheel test - both of which had to be like 75 to 80% good and we got our license. The very next day we were piling all our friends in the truck to go cruise for chicks (there were no seatbelt laws either... seatbelts were just a "good recommendation")

Back in my grandpa's day, you just had to pay to get your license! That would explain why there are so many bad old drivers out there… my town seems to have many. I can't count the times people (usually in Chrysler "Intrepids" [what a crock name] or in Buicks) have done 25 in a 30 zone in this town.

And as to seatbelts, they're practically a reflex for me. I put mine on without even thinking about it.

I was driving at 15 but didn't get a license until I was 17!  My mom and I got our licenses the same day.  We just had to go down, take a written test, and drive around the block with an observer.  Bingo!

I don't think that this method is why there are so many bad drivers.  People used to care more about other people and were more observant on the road.  People don't care about anyone else anymore and I feel that this reflects in their driving.

I think here it is a state-by-state thing.  I grew up in West Virginia and there the law was you could test at 16.  If you had not taken driver's ed and you passed then you got a jr. operator's license which had some restrictions on it.  At 18 you could get the regular unrestricted operator's license.  If you had taken driver's ed, then you could get the operator's at 16.  I know it has changed since then.

I think alldat has a good point about bad drivers.  Plus, it seems like people nowadays are consumed with everything else but driving when they are behind the wheel.  Some people don't even seem to be able to have a conversation with anyone in the car without looking at them.

Oh, glad your daughter is alright G/F.  I flipped a car once--that was enough for me.  I came out of it just fine, but the same couldn't be said for my Jerusalem Dancing on the Head of the Serpent cassette.  I remember my first thought in the silence when the car stopped was about all of the times in movies and tv shows when a car flips and then explodes.  I was upside down and couldn't get my bearings to find the seatbelt release.  I kept reaching down to my shoulder.  When I finally figured out where it was and crawled out the window, I looked up and saw the brightest "star" moving slowly across the sky.  It was too slow to be a meteor and too short-lived to be an airplane.  Cue Amy Grant:  "Angels watching over me..." 

Later I remembered that a friend was supposed to be riding home with me (it was the end of the fall semester) and had called earlier that day to say she was going to stay until the next day so she didn't need a ride.  The car landed on the passenger side and totally crushed it down.  There is no way she would have survived.  Things like that remind me that His eye is on the sparrow.

Distracted driving is a major issue today. We like to think it's mostly young folks texting but adults are just as likely to be on their phones. I recently learned you're TWICE as likely to have an accident while texting than if driving drunk.  

You can also be held legally liable if you send a text which causes an accident if they can show that you knew the person was driving at the time.

yikes... I'm a bad driver I suppose.
I hate seatbelts. I text all the time. search my 200 cd disc case for an album. drive with my knee. I think it's cuz I live in the desert and many roads are devoid of other cars. But it's still no excuse.
 
crazy thing is, I've only been in 1 accident my whole life and it wasn't my fault. I was 18 and was hit head on by a car load of thieves running from the cops. So in a way, I was the hero   

But as for my "worse than a teenager" driving now, I need to get my act together before I kill someone.

I do it, too, though not often (I survived 46 years without texting at all LOL) and at least try to limit it when nothing is near enough to interact with my vehicle the few seconds I look away. My biggest usage while driving may be GasBuddy. I'm going to work on changing that since I need to be a better example to my sons.

I do text on occasion, but it mostly happens when I start responding to a text while at a stop light and don't quite get it finished before I have to start moving again. I need to just stop texting at all while I am in the car (driving or not).