Mom’s Fender Bender 09.08.09

On Saturday we went up to my parents new place to put the shingles on the back side of the house.  After a couple of hours of working, mom went to get us something to eat for lunch.  She hadn’t been gone but just a few minutes when my dad’s phone rang w/ her ringtone.  Before even answering it, I think we all knew that something had happened.

As she was going around a slight curve, a man backed out into the road without even being able to see if there was any oncoming traffic, and she nailed him.  Luckily she was wearing her seat belt and the airbag helped soften the impact a bit.  She’s still sore from where the seat belt grabbed her, but thankfully had no serious injuries.  After an hour or so, the state trooper came to work the accident.  He heard both sides and said that the truck was at fault because it is never okay to back into a main through-way.

The Toyota Tundra’s rear bumper was pushed down and underneath the truck.  I assume from how it looked it bent the frame and will total it if he allows it.  I heard one of the officers say something similar.  When we pushed the car out of the road it was impossible to put the car in neutral, so it must have knocked something out of alignment since it’s a front wheel drive car.  Not sure yet on the car, but I think they will total it out from the extent of damage, possibly more than what’s noticeable from what we experienced w/ the transmission, and the airbags deploying.

A note if you are in Tennessee, the officer said, they’re “not as hip as Georgia yet,” so you still have to have your registration and insurance papers in the vehicle if you’re in the state.  In Georgia, everything is tied to the license plate, so if they run the tag, they can see everything about the vehicle without having to deal with any papers.