<p>i’m a dad and I’d be ticked at you too. then again, after getting the kids a new civic, i backed into it with my car twice, coming out of the garage. real world – gotta love it.</p>
<p>Elizabeth - I was there at 17, but the reverse situation - damage to my car but none to the other car - I had rear-ended a truck, quite gently, but went underneath it. Brakes, by the way, completely failed three weeks later… a good reminder to keep one’s brakes and tires in excellent condition.</p>
<p>Anyway - apologize to your parents and be contrite. Let them vent on you. It works wonders. Also - there is the possibility that the car was not supposed to be parked on the street, and that is why the neighbours don’t want you going to their insurance company. Anyway, the best thing you can do is try to get estimates to repair the car (if at all possible). My parents wers significantly less miffed when I spent the entire next day getting repair estimates - I was proactive about fixing the mess.</p>
<p>My sister sounds like Wild Child! She smacked into the side of the garage and took out a support beam. She borrowed my car when I was at school and totalled it - by parking in the fast lane of I-95! She was rear-ended by a car going 60 or so - both cars wrecked, both people, thankfully, fine. She then crashed a friend’s car. Later, she used an aunt’s car and got into a few fender benders. A year ago, she totalled another one. She now hates to drive. </p>
<p>Final advice: ask your parents if you can sign up for adult driver/advanced drivers ed courses.</p>
<p>I still think you should buy a hat. ;)</p>
<p>Second mini’s motion.</p>
<p>Elizabeth,</p>
<p>I have a 17-year-old DD, so hugs to you are in order.</p>
<p>Have you thought about what you are going to do? You should probably have your neighbor get a couple of estimates for the repair. Also have your parents call your insurance company, and talk to them; get information from them, rather than giving them info., and basically you would use this info. to make an informed decision.</p>
<p>If your deductible is $1000, the repair estimate is $3000, but your insurance company says that your premiums will go up $800 per year for 3 years, (plus I believe you could get upto 6 points), then you may be better off shelling out the $3000, rather than $3400 towards ded. + prem. Also, your insurance co. may not tell you this now, but if you do have another accident, they may drop you from their coverage, and once dropped, it would be horrendous to find new coverage. </p>
<p>I am not trying to scare you, but I have heard of stuff like this. So once everyone is calm, make the phonecalls, do the math, and make a rational decision.</p>
<p>Hey, Elizabeth, my D. totalled her car in September - rear-ended another car on PCH. We were just glad no one was hurt, decided that she still needed a car to get to school/work, so bought me a new(er) car, and let her have my '95. Three weeks later she was on PCH again, at work delivering a pizza, when she glanced down at the delivery address and didn’t notice that the light had changed. Totalled my car, totalled the Porsche she hit, and damaged the BMW in front of him (Tip #1 - never let your kids drive in Malibu!). Again, nobody hurt (well, that wasn’t what they told the insurance company, but nobody was really hurt). There would have been no point to yelling at her - she knew what she’d done and was as deeply distressed as you are. On the brighter side, her dad, who had wanted her to go to UCLA, has decided that maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for her to go back east to college after all - higher tuition, but think what we’d save in car insurance!</p>
<p>It’s scary for parents to let their children get in the driver’s seat in the first place, and scarier still when we realize that you’re not always the best drivers. We like you, we really like you, and we’re terrified you’re going to get hurt (or bankrupt us!) IMO, the best thing you can do to placate your parents right now (besides not becoming a serial totaller like my D) is to show them how responsible you are. Is getting a job to pay for the damage an option? Let your parents know you consider this a wake-up call - that you’ve learned that it only takes a second of inattention in a car to mess up really badly. While they’ll get over it soon, hopefully you’ve learned a lesson for life.</p>
<p>Allow things to be what they are. Hang around your parents but be politely quite and contemplative. Don’t discuss it. :(</p>
<p>Within a day–under these circumstances–your parents will feel guilty about how they are treating you. They will then likely go overboard the other direction and embrace you.</p>
<p>I have a daughter your exact age (dart), it works on me everytime. :)</p>
<p>MomofWildChild, we can trade wild child driving stories. My wild child got a DUI… came home in a cab one morning from the police station… he never went to the traffic classes or applied for another license because he was going to college in a city with great public transportation. Four years later, he still has no license, and lives in yet another city with great public transportation. He is a terrible driver anyway.</p>
<p>I am thinking that it’s no coincidence that there’s a thread on CC about car accidents. What are the things that worry parents the most besides their teenagers getting into an appropriate college— car accidents and maybe drugs/alcohol…</p>
<p>Elizabeth, If it helps any, when I was your age I did the EXACT same thing with my parents car. The neighbors were nice about it but my parents made me pay off the damages bit by bit. I still remember the humble pie I had to eat at my parents dinner table every night for several months. Years later I mentioned hitting the car to my mother and she had absolutely no recollection of it happening. This too shall pass, I promise! :)</p>
<p>ive backed into a parked car too!!! it sucked, i got a ticket. but before that, about a week or 2 before, i was driving in january and the roads were a little icy, i tried to make a quick turn in a residential area going 30 or something, my car slid and the front bumper ran into a pile of snow, my parents werent happy. but atleast there was a pile of snow there, behind it was a light pole… also, my brother came home from college once and ran the (same) car into the side of the garage door because he didnt know how to de-fog the windows…also, my dad was driving it and hit a dear with it…oh! i also almost got rear ended when pulling into my drive way(its off a pretty busy street) but all that happened was they took some paint off the bumper(which the cop didnt even acknowledge! he justs laughed and said whatever, i want my damn paint back!) but the car behind the person behind me ran straight into them and the car in the middle got messed up…and finally i got a speeding ticket driving the car. oh, the memories with that car…and we’ve only had it for a year…</p>
<p>btw, i still drive 
hope you all never see me on the roads.</p>
<p>elizabeth,</p>
<p>I am so sorry about this accident which has upset your entire family. Please know that you are in the norm for a teenaged driver. My son did the exact same thing, though thankfully the car he backed into was worth about $700.00 total <em>lol</em>. Please do not be so hard on yourself. You are obviously a very conscientious girl who cares very much about your parents. I hope your mom calms down soon and realizes that it could have been much, much worse. I am glad that no one was injured. I wish your family the best for a peaceful resolution to this. Hang in there.</p>
<p>And MotherOfTwo,</p>
<p>OMG!! What a nightmare your D. had to endure!! Oh, that is just outrageous! That is really adding insult to injury. I hope she is doing better now. The reaction of that teacher was beyond inappropriate. ~berurah</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>Elizabeth,</p>
<p>I’m sure someone else has already shared my exact sentiments, but I can’t help myself.</p>
<p>There’s some damage to a car, right? But YOU are okay, right? You, their precious daughter, are in 100% working order? Cars will come and go, but they will never have another Elizabeth. We seem to wander around this life forgetting at every turn how incredibly fragile it is.</p>
<p>You weren’t killed. They weren’t told that they or you have a terminal disease. The earth did not open up and swallow any of your family members nor did a giant wave take any of you away. None of you are living in incapacitating pain. You have enough to eat.</p>
<p>Do what you can to help out with the car repair, and then you should all sit down and thank whomever it is you credit as your Creator for all your good fortune.</p>
<p>Btw, Dizzy-husband drove his first car through his parents’ garage door late one night (no alcohol or drugs involved, just a new driver). This was back in the days when the body shop provided a loaner car while they fixed the damaged one; he wrecked that one, too. Grew up to be a success in spite of himself.</p>
<p>I hope Elizabeth’s parents have calmed down by now. She has all of us parents worrying about her. I think Dizzymom’s response was the best one of all so far. I hope Elizabeth lets us know how it’s going soon!</p>
<p>In 1986 my DH decided to completely restore his old Datsun 280Z. God, he loved that car. So two days after he gets it back from the body shop, after 6 months of work, I backed his other car into it, caving in the door completely. Only thing he said to me was, “Are you all right?”</p>
<p>The man is perfect, what can I say?</p>
<p>Body work can cost a LOT. Make sure your neighbors get multiple estimates before you decide whether to report it or pay directly. Good luck.</p>
<p>Elizabeth, my mom has backed out of our driveway and knocked our mailbox over twice now. She had to repair the back end of her car both times, so trust me we’ve all been there.</p>
<p>I accidently backed into my friends car a few years ago (didn’t scratch my car - but it put a small dent in her car) I paid it out of my pocket, since we were friends and all… but yeah, body work is expensive. That would of been a great extra bit of money to put towards my new car in November, but oh well. Stuff happens.</p>
<p>I hope everything settles down at your place, good luck.</p>
<p>I hate driving with other people in the car. Criticism ticks me off and makes me a nerve wreck so I don’t drive properly.</p>
<p>Hi Elizabeth … sorry to hear about your accident … fortunately no one got hurt and everything will turn out OK.</p>
<p>When I started to drive and got in an accident my dad got pretty mad and my mom probably wanted to but really couldn’t … because … when I was younger she backed out of the garage into our second call which led to an interesting call to my Dad … “Honey, I got in an accident” … “Which car?” … “Both” … "Huh? But it helped my sister and I. (Seriously, the majority of people get into at least one accident during their driving career … the important thing is no one got hurt)</p>
<p>My D backed out the driveway into the mailman a few months back!! Luckily neither car was banged up, a few little scratches on ours nothing major. The mail carrier asked my D if she had decided where she was going to school. He said I assume you are the one getting all this mail!!</p>
<p>Another story from me - the other day I almost hit my neighbor’s little dog because it was standing stock still in the road right at the end of my driveway. Then I noticed that their two year old twin boys were standing on the sidewalk. The mother had no idea that they were all outside - she came out when she heard the dog barking and she was frantic that the twins have figured out how to unlock the door. I am very glad I didn’t run any of them over and I have warned my whole family to watch out for any “escapees” from that house whenever we pull out of the driveway. Elizabeth - as everyone else has said, it is really not that important as long as no one got hurt.</p>