It's Never My Fault

Or Beth's fault either.

But for some reason people like to drive into cars we own.

It started when we were engaged.  Neither Beth nor myself had ever been in a car accident (driving, that is) until I put that ring on her finger. 

A few months before our wedding somebody careened into the Element in the Michael's parking lot.  Fortunately, they were honest and came into the store and had "the owner of a grey Honda Element" paged to the front desk.

Then a year later I was on my way to work, running early for once and sitting at a red light in my 1997 Ford Explorer with a McDonald's breakfast just waiting for me in the passenger seat.  Then BLAM!  A dude in a green minivan plowed into me.  He said the sun was in his eyes and he didn't see me.  It's a good thing I was there, because he would have blown through a red light and caused who knows what kind of havoc.   Of course, I acted responsibly, called the police so a report would be filed and he got ticked for reckless driving.  I didn't think anything of it.  But then he fought the ticket and I got subpoenaed.  That I didn't care for.

Things stayed quiet for a while and we traded in the Explorer for a Honda Civic which Beth drives.  Then last year, when I was on my way to South Carolina and Beth was headed home from a doctor's appointment (she was pregnant) a Buick moved into her lane while she was right next to it.  (Kids, that's why you always check your blind spot before changing lanes or turning!)

Finally yesterday morning I was rear-ended on my way to work again.  Not only was it my second accident, but also the Element's.  Traffic is always a little heavy on the way in, especially before the turn into the business park.  Just after I crossed the bridge over route 15, the traffic stopped.  So I stopped.  The person behind me did not stop.

She said that traffic stopped so suddenly that she didn't have a chance to stop in time.  I find that more acceptable than "the sun was in my eyes so I didn't see that car stopped at a red light."  But it's still annoying. Because now I have to do all the insurance stuff and the repairs and even though it might not cost me anything in the end, it's still a hassle.

And I know, I should be thankful that no one was hurt in any of these accidents.  We always got the car repaired "like new" and we've never paid anything from our own pockets (except for a rental car mix-up one time).  And I am thankful for that.  But I'd prefer it if people would stop driving into me and my wife.

So the next time you're driving (which is hopefully not at this moment - eyes on the road!) do us all a favor and don't run into anybody. 

Of course that might be tough around here in the near future because we've got more snow coming Thursday.  So get your bread, milk and eggs and then slide your car around like a maniac.  Preferably not into my car.