She hurt my Smart!

My wife and I were driving home from dinner late last night—sitting at a stop light just as innocent as can be. I glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw a car approaching very quickly. I move up a little closer to the car in front of me thinking I'd give them more room to come to a stop. When I looked back in the mirror, I could see the top of the driver's head just above the steering wheel just as she slammed into the back of our car without so much as hitting the brakes.

It turns out the driver was a young girl who's cell phone had rung and then "slipped off her lap." Great. My wife's head snapped back at impact and the paramedics ended up transporting her to the hospital for an CAT Scan just to make sure nothing was broken, and we didn't get home from the ordeal until close to 1:00 in the morning.

My wife's pretty sore today, but they gave her good drugs! The car's banged up, however... my perfect little car is going to need some tender, loving care of its own. I'm posting pictures, and I am attempting to convince myself that the silver lining to this cloud is that the damaged parts can be completely replaced with new, factory painted ones rather than anything needing to be filled, sanded and sprayed.

Sigh... I hope the young lady learned a lesson (she was cited by the police, and I'm sure her insurance will go up as a result). It's a good thing she wasn't going any faster, but she hurt my Smart!

0 members like this

Comment

You need to be a member of smart USA insider to add comments!

Join smart USA insider

Comment by I'm Bill.. my smart is Annie on May 31, 2009 at 1:54am: sorry to hear about your accident but glad you and your wife are ok.

Comment by Louise Barnes on April 20, 2009 at 1:54pm: My red Smart got loose from me a few months ago...truly....someone was guiding me into a parking spot and I thought I was on the brake but must have been on the gas. To be sure, I had SMART come from their home office here to look at the brakes.

Comment by Dave Mayall on April 13, 2009 at 4:21pm: Sorry to hear about your wife, your Smart too. Hope both are up and running again soon.

Comment by Eric on April 13, 2009 at 9:23am: Hope you're both ok! Looks like it'll be a quick fix and the car will be good as new. You missed a good time on Saturday--hopefully we'll see you at the next event :)

Comment by Wally Gullang on April 12, 2009 at 7:53am: Alan I know how you loved your little car but car's can be replaced. Thank God you both were not hurt too bad. I know the feeling, I've been there, I've done that.

Comment by Ryan on April 11, 2009 at 10:55pm: I seriously wish they'd outlaw the use of cell phones in moving vehicles, period. Not any of this stupid "hands-free only" crap. That's not the issue. People today... ESPECIALLY teens.... don't have the ability to focus on both at the same time. If you ask me.... cell phone service providers should do something with phones so that, should the phone sense it is moving quickly (possibly a GPS link or something), it will not take or recieve any calls. If someone is talking and the phone senses it's starting to move rather quickly, it should end the call. It's just ridiculous. I rarely ever talk on the phone when i'm driving. Not only because it's a distraction that nobody needs... but.... is it THAT urgent that it can't wait a few minutes til you get to wherever it is that you're going? Is finding out what's for dinner, or asking what stupid thing your best friend's sister did last night at the party that important that risking the safety of yourself and, more importantly, other drivers is worth it? seriously unlikely.

Comment by Monty on April 11, 2009 at 9:01pm: Wow! I just saw the pictures. I'm amazed that there was not more damage from an accident like that. Your car is going to be good as new with a few new parts.

Comment by Monty on April 11, 2009 at 8:58pm: Ouch! Another accident caused by a cell phone. *sigh* Hope your wife is doing well and your Smart is all better soon.

Comment by Tiny-1and Blue J-Carol on April 11, 2009 at 5:54pm: I hope you, your wife, and Smart are doing better. The silver lining is that the three of you came out only a little beaten up, not much worse. I wish you all a quick recovery.