Well, There goes my insurance rates… Just got my son a car for his 17th birthday. We went to eat lunch and I slipped the manager the keys. She came to the table with plate that was covered and set it in front of him. He lifted the lid and almost fell out of the seat when he saw the keys sitting on a bed of lettuce.
He was soooo surprised. His birthday is May 22nd so he was totally taken off guard. VCOM is having accepted students day on his birthday so we did this early.
Have a great weekend everyone.
God, someone shoot me please. Ok since I wrote the last post…
He rode around with me and I made sure he drove safetly. Then he went and rode with his dad who STUPIDLY decides to read the paper when my kid who has a learner’s permit drives unsupervised.
Well …gee guess what freaking happened. He followed to closely and hit the car in front of him and blew out the airbags, cracked the windshield , smashed the front end all to he–. GOSH, what was my stupid husband doing reading the freaking paper.
The only good thing is no one was hurt.
Car lasted 6 hours before crash. Yippee (SARCASTICLY SAID)
Never ending day today…
Well, just got back from the ER. My husband and son rode to our house in the tow truck and walked in the house and I freaked. The 2 guys who said they were fine were not fine. My husband didn’t even realize his glasses were broken and his nose was swollen and turning purple. My son said his wrist hurt. I looked at it and it was swollen and badly burned from the airbag. So off the the ER we went.
My husband has a concussion apparently from the air bag door on the passenger side, plus lots of burns and abrasions from the air bag. My son jammed 3 fingers and has a huge abrasion/burn up his wrist and arm.
I guess the shock caused them not to realize they were hurt. Geez what a day. 
Holy crap, Amy, that is the kind of memorable birthday that you wish no one had to have. SOME day, very far off, this is going to be a great story. Right now though it is pretty scary! I am glad that they weren’t badly hurt. Your husband and son each learned a painful and expensive lesson; I’m sorry it had to be such a tough one!
When I started working in the library here, my network manager had two teenagers in the house. The main server password was “kidsncars”. Her son is now a grown man with a kid and has to pay for his own car wrecks now, and I look forward to the same for you. 
Seriously, this will be a very funny story in a while. I myself was and probably still am one of the world’s worst driver…never gotten a ticket, although I’ve had a few accidents - none serious and none determined to be my fault. Of course, these are the accidents involving other cars. I’ve backed up into a palm tree…and it’s not like I didn’t know the tree wasn’t there…it was in my own front driveway! But the most memorable of all is when I was in high school and apparently I turned into the school a little too sharp and my car scratched against the school fence. Made a horrible screeching noise…the head nun was outside directing traffic but I was so embarassed I pretended it wasn’t my car and just kept driving. Anyhow, I got out of my car and miraculously there was only a scratch. I went into homeroom pale-faced as if I had just a ghost and just by that face my friends knew I did something wrong. After school, as I walked to my car, it was glaringly obvious that there was more than a scratch…the whole right side of my backfender was torn off…plus the actual metal on the side had been cut through. Can you imagine? I just left part of the back fender of my car hanging on the front gate of my school…I can only imagine what the nun thought. Anyhow, to make matters worse, I had to go home, park my car to the side, and pretend like nothing happened with my parents bc they would have forbidden me to drive. A few days later, they came and asked me if I knew what happened to the back fender of the car…I didn’t admit until years later when my driving privileges could not be revoked. My parents love to the tell the story still and, of course, I’m stil mortified. At least, he didn’t rear-end a cop car…that would have been really bad.
Also, with the insurance rates, you might consider putting yourself or your husband as the primary driver of the car, and your son as the secondary driver. That helps…also, if that’s not possible, you should definitely put him as the primary driver on the cheapeast insured car (i.e. older non-SUV, sporty car with most safety features - anti-lock brakes, security system, etc.)…and put him as a secondary driver on this actual new car. My parents did that…with most of their cars and it worked out. If he gets into an accident as as secondary driver, he will still be fully covered, but it just helps with the rates.
Amy, I’m so sorry to hear that! I’m also glad no one was hurt badly. Hope you’re taking it easy right now. Don’t worry, with a little time the stress of this will fade.
I should know. In drivers ed, I slid off an icy road next to a lake, and landed the car in the ditch (not the lake at least!) My driving teacher had to dig the car out, and for years new students in his class would hear about the story as an example of one of his worst driving experiences.
Last week I almost had an accident too, with a friend in the car. We were driving through the mountains on the freeway going into Denver from the west, and even though it was late April, a snowstorm came out of nowhere, and we hit a patch of ice and started to slide. We were in a tiny convertable with summer tires and no roof, and we spun 1 or 2 360’s before stopping almost miraculously right next to the ditch, in the right direction. I pumped the brakes the whole time (an improvement over my technique back in drivers ed!), and that’s what saved us I think, but it was still very scary. We were also really lucky. The worst part was that ten feet away from us in the ditch was the site of a very bad rollover accident surrounded by several ambulances. (Thank god the person was ok, but being in a convertable, we were really spooked.) On our other side was a guardrail and dropoff.
I was so traumatized I couldn’t drive the rest of the night. We had to stay overnight in a roadside motel and wait for the snow to clear. My car is so unsnow-worthy we had to have a firetruck escort us down and off the freeway. By the next day though, we’d both calmed down and everything was fine. Also, I’ve learned a LESSON about paying more attention to the weather beforehand.
Hang in there! Good thing those airbags were there. I’m sure your son will learn from this and become a great driver.
Amy-
Glad things seem to be ok and sorry this had to happen. I’m totally with you on this one. I just surprised my 17 yr. old with his first car and not a day goes by without me thinking and wondering if I’m gonna get this phone call: “Dad…ummmm…I kinda had a wreck.” Of course that would be better than a hospital calling. I’ts been about a month and so far so good. I’m figuring the phone call will be coming regardless someday. Haven’t we all had at least one fender bender as a youngin? I had my share. The torch just keep being passed. Good luck to you and your son!
Hi Andrea, You’re lucky to have escaped the snow accident relatively unscathed. As a side note, I was wondering if you or anyone else might be able to give me some preventative wisdom. For the first time in my life, I will be driving in winter weather. I grew up in South Florida and lived in Philadelphia and New York city for a time but never drove in those cities. Anyhow, I will not be taking my small non-SUV car (a Mazda Rx-8) to Bryn Mawr. You mentioned summer tires…do people/drivers up North change their tires according to seasons? Also, you mentioned pumping your brakes…what exactly is this? Is there any other method or strategy I should know about driving in the snow/ice? Pardon me, if any these questions sound really silly, but I honestly have never driven in the snow or ice and I want to avoid accidents and/or sliding into ditches. Sorry to hijack your thread, AmyB, but I’m really nervous about this.
Thanks,
Liana
Thanks for all the great responses and well wishes. I am feeling a bit better today, but now I get to deal with the insurance company and the body shop. I am fearful they will say they can’t fix the airbags. And what about those TV shows that talk about how they said they fixed them but really just left them empty and there were no air bags. I mean, how would someone know if they were there or not. And what if they don’t put them in correctly…grrr I am thinking to much this morning.
You can hijack my thread. Some places have snow tires in the winter. I remember growing up and the buses would put chains on during snow, which were bad and noisey when we would drive over dry pavement. We would buy tires with studs in the winter. The studs would add traction.
I don’t know if people even do that anymore though. If it snows or ices, then if you can stay home, otherwise ride with someone who is used to bad weather driving. The first few bad weather events, have someone drive you to a big parking lot so you can get the feel of what it is to drive on snow or ice.
Go to DMV and get the driver manual and read through what their suggestions are.
If you have to drive…take it SLOW!!! Try not to slam on your brakes because you will more than likely spin out or slid. SLow and steady is the key. Stopping distances should be very long, take it slow to make all turns.
Or you could see if any of the driving schools there offer driving lessons during bad weather. I don’t know if that is done though.
Good luck.
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Hi Andrea, You’re lucky to have escaped the snow accident relatively unscathed. As a side note, I was wondering if you or anyone else might be able to give me some preventative wisdom. For the first time in my life, I will be driving in winter weather. I grew up in South Florida and lived in Philadelphia and New York city for a time but never drove in those cities. Anyhow, I will not be taking my small non-SUV car (a Mazda Rx-8) to Bryn Mawr. You mentioned summer tires…do people/drivers up North change their tires according to seasons? Also, you mentioned pumping your brakes…what exactly is this? Is there any other method or strategy I should know about driving in the snow/ice? Pardon me, if any these questions sound really silly, but I honestly have never driven in the snow or ice and I want to avoid accidents and/or sliding into ditches. Sorry to hijack your thread, AmyB, but I’m really nervous about this.
Thanks,
Liana
Liana,
I made the transition from South to frozen North. The thing is that, in the rain, sometimes you do pump your brakes. In snow and on ice, this can be bad. The most important thing you can do if you find yourself on actual ice is to try to confine yourself to steering and keep your damn foot off the brakes until you get to where there is some Not Ice. It’s hard. I learned this by sliding into a guard rail on the trip from Georgia to Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin, most people don’t switch to snow tires in winter. But do get NEW tires. Nice, good new tires. If I’d done that in Georgia, I might not have slid into the guard rail. THe first snowy season, try to find an empty parking lot on a Sunday morning and practice stopping on a slippy surface.
But mostly, go reasonably slowly, don’t tailgate, don’t drive if you’re scared to, and take your time. You’ll get the hang of it. If you have the chance to get ABS brakes before you move, great, but I drove okay up here for years without them. Just know when to take your foot off the brake.
If you’re not familiar with ABS brakes: when they encounter skidding conditions, they thump in a weird sort of way that is very alarming if you’ve never felt it before. The instinctive reaction is to take your foot off the brake. DON’T. Continue to apply sufficient pressure on the brake pedal - that thumping is the anti-lock mechanism kicking in and you undo its work if you take your foot off the brake.
Other icy driving tips: first of all, don’t drive in ice. No one can do it, and there is no vehicle capable of handling ice, whether it’s a Hummer or a Cooper Mini. Snow is do-able depending on the situation. Next tip: GO SLOW but don’t be stupid about it. Look ahead: if there’s a hill looming in front of you and you’re driving on a thin veneer of snow, fercryinoutloud keep your speed sufficient to get up the hill despite poor traction! Next: turn your radio OFF. You need to be able to hear your wheels if they start spinning. Finally: remember in driver’s ed you were told to ‘steer in the direction of the skid?’ I never understood that - it’s kinda hard to tell your direction when you’re skidding! A better way to think of it is, LET THE CAR GO in the direction of a skid. Don’t steer at all when you’re skidding - take your foot off the gas, rest your hands on the wheel without pulling on it, and let the car find its stopping place. Your instinct is to yank the wheel opposite the “wrong” direction you’re going in - this won’t work and will make matters worse. Instead let the car “steer” and you can eventually provide some gentle correction.
I actually like driving in snow because I have a sense of hard-won competence about it; it really isn’t hard, it just requires some practice AND a whole lot of common sense.
My car is pretty new, so I have new tires already and believe I have ABS brakes. Okay, now I’m more confused and scared than ever…steer or don’t steer? Go with the skid?!? What if my car is skidding into the side of a mountain! Okay, I’m inclined to not drive when it snows or ices over…I’ll just walk to school and stock up on groceries before the snow. Of course, this means I’ll be walking in the most freezing weather, which is precisely when I’d like to be a car. A car that doesn’t skid, spin or crash, of course.
This brings me to another question: I have my car which is new, bought in December, has good tires and ABS brakes or my father’s SUV which comes with four wheel drive, however the car is a lot older probably like 10 years. I don’t really want to be driving around an old with old tires and just ready to give out either…but I do want to reduce or eliminate the skid/sliding on ice driving moments. Which is better?
Stick with your new car. 4-wheel drive just tempts you to go out in weather you shouldn’t be driving in anyway.
You’ll be able to learn to drive in snow. Just take your time. Sometimes there’s a little scary moment when you hit the wrong sort of slushy patch and your car moves a few inches off to one side suddenly, but it finds its traction eventually. In winter, you leave enough room around you that a few inches doesn’t make a difference.
I agree with Mary that ice is something you drive on when there’s a little ice surprise party in the road. If you KNOW there are icy conditions, don’t drive.
If you go driving in the mountains in the dead of winter, you’ll be going slow enough that skidding into it won’t seriously injure you.
Really, it’s not as bad as you fear once you get the hang of it. And in MOST localities, EVERYBODY drives like they’re walking on eggs for the first snowfall of winter, as if they ALL forgot how to do it.
My ice accident was in the blizzard of '95 when the governor closed the roads for two days. He opened them the third day, so we continued on north. We discovered the roads were not good and slowed down to 15 mph. I hit a patch of ice the size of an Olympic skating rink and at least an inch thick. And then, oh, boy, I tapped the brakes. I spun slowly and skidded rather gracefully towards the guard rail. Allowing the car to find its traction worked, only it was finding its traction in the direction of the left lane, facing the wrong way. I figured anybody coming behind me couldn’t stop any better than I could, so I steered into the guard rail and dented my fender.
It was not fun, but it was not the end of the world.
We drove to the next exit at FIVE miles an hour, and spent another night in Kentucky. Those were NOT driveable roads. And that’s the only winter accident I’ve ever had (knock wood). I drove the car for another six years after that.
Finally, get some layers and dress for the weather. For my winter bicycle commuting, I wear a fleece balaclava with a neoprene face mask, just the thing for subzero temperatures. WARM mittens, wicking long underwear from the campmor catalog–if you dress right, you don’t really have to be cold.
Finally, if you have the opportunity to have covered parking, spend the money if you’ve got it, at least for your first winter. Not digging out your car is a nice gift to give yourself while you’re adjusting to the Frozen North.
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Iwill not be taking my small non-SUV car (a Mazda Rx-8) to Bryn Mawr.
Aaaarrrrrggghhhh…and RX-8!!!
I’m jealous!!! 
If I could go out and buy a sports car right now it would be a toss up between the RX-8 and the 350Z. The RX-8 would probably win out since I’m a former RX-7 Gen 2 owner. Fantastic cars. Enjoy and DON’T take that baby out during inclement weather. You don’t want her to get any boo boo’s or subject it to the nasty chemicals and salt dropped on the roads up north during icy weather. Take public transp. if available or carpool as others have suggested. Good luck!!!
Thanks Chris. I love my car…I also looked at the Nissan but the freesytle doors of the RX-8 of the Mazda RX-8 won my heart. It is a sports car but it has a back seat that fits more than your purse and because of the doors you don’t have to contort yourself so much to get in there. My only regret is that I didn’t get in titanium gray - when I was buying it was not available in Florida for another 3 weeks and I really needed a car for work, so I got it in the Metallic Mica Green. Sometimes I convince myself that it is a gray green so I like my color, but then it occurs to me that I’m driving a forest/hunter green car, a color I’ve never liked too much…but other than this color identity crisis, I do love my car and I love the way it drives…but I’m a bit worried about driving in the snow.
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My only regret is that I didn’t get in titanium gray - when I was buying it was not available in Florida for another 3 weeks and I really needed a car for work, so I got it in the Metallic Mica Green.
Don’t worry. In winter, all cars are gray.
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Don’t worry. In winter, all cars are gray.
Grey with white spots all over it from the salt. Yucky
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My only regret is that I didn’t get in titanium gray - when I was buying it was not available in Florida for another 3 weeks and I really needed a car for work, so I got it in the Metallic Mica Green.
LOL - thanks! I feel a whole lot better.
Don’t worry. In winter, all cars are gray.
Amy, geez, sorry to hear about your kid, your husband and the car. What a sucky kind of day. I hope everything gets better and that they weren’t hurt too bad. My dad called me “Crash” in HS because of my driving “abilities”.
One a side note about icy driving-a few years ago when I was driving a school bus, we were back at school the day after an ice storm hit. Most of it had melted away (except what was on the bridges and overpasses). I was halfway over a bridge (poking along at a slow steady pace) when this teenager in a small sportscar whipped in front of me and, for whatever reason, slammed on his brakes. He slid, I tried to brake (in a 40 foot school bus) and started to slide sideways on the road. Yep, there were kids on the bus and everything. They were sceaming, I was freaked that we were going to slide over the side of the bridge and to the road below. Talk about the butt sucking up some serious seat vinyl. LOL! Fortunately, I managed to get control of the bus and make it safely over the bridge. The kid in the car did too. Needless to say, I really don’t like driving in icy weather even when I am in my car.
Clay