Just got in a car accident... sad and scared

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sixeyes

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Thankfully, my kids and I are fine, but the car’s a wreck and I feel so stupid :banghead: It’s a long story, but basically it was my fault (I didn’t have the right of way), with the caveat that the other person was speeding, which made everything worse.

I am praying that the other driver is OK, too. I know he got some cuts on his face (his car didn’t have airbags) but I don’t know anything else. I 'm scared to think I might have harmed someone, terrified to think I could have harmed my kids, and mad at myself for having been careless.

Now I’m also afraid that the other driver will sue me or something for injuries/lost wages/etc. (Yes, I do have good car insurance.) This probably isn’t common, just my anxiety getting the better of me.

Sorry, I guess I just needed a place to vent. Praise God for keeping my children safe.
 
sixeyes said:
Thankfully, my kids and I are fine, but the car’s a wreck and I feel so stupid :banghead: It’s a long story, but basically it was my fault (I didn’t have the right of way), with the caveat that the other person was speeding, which made everything worse.

I am praying that the other driver is OK, too. I know he got some cuts on his face (his car didn’t have airbags) but I don’t know anything else. I 'm scared to think I might have harmed someone, terrified to think I could have harmed my kids, and mad at myself for having been careless.

Now I’m also afraid that the other driver will sue me or something for injuries/lost wages/etc. (Yes, I do have good car insurance.) This probably isn’t common, just my anxiety getting the better of me.

Sorry, I guess I just needed a place to vent. Praise God for keeping my children safe.
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:console:

I was in a car accident about 6 years ago - driving my parents’ car home from work, I stopped at the stop sign, looked both ways multiple times, saw no one, pulled out and was broadsided by a speeder who was also looking down, dialling his cellphone. I totalled the car, and came away with a concussion and a badly bruised liver. Had I had a passenger, they probably would have died.

It was the intersection near my home, and we’ve been witness to countless accidents over the years, and I thought I was being careful (VERY dangerous intersection, with trees and poles, and sun glare - we figure every time I looked, he had happened to be JUST in the wrong place, very bad timing). Technically, it was all my fault, and the other driver was not injured, but it came out a wash in insurance. He knew he was morally partially responsible as well, even if not legally.

Anyway, for a couple years - I was so shaken I couldn’t cross the intersection! I’d take the long way around to avoid it and feel like throwing up if I was a passenger crossing it. My mother finally forced me to drive through it one day, and I’m glad she did - I still retain some apprehension, but no longer the panicky fear. It is totally normal to be scared and sad, especially when it’s just happened! Cars are giant metal boxes travelling at high speeds - of course it’s disconcerting when they smash into each other! And then the added worry about other people involved makes it so much worse…I remember being on a porch after my accident, waiting for the ambulance, and just saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry’ to the guy, over and over.

Were your kids shaken as well? When I was about 6, I was in a car totalling accident with my mother (totally not her fault) and remember never wanting to leave the house again. Lots of hugs and my mother listening to my fears and reassuring me fixed it right up though 🙂 And it helped that I was never made to feel silly about being scared, or taking awhile to get over it.
 
I bumped into a guy who slammed on his brakes coming out of a store, and I was really shaken, so I sympathize.
Don’t beat yourself up. You weren’t drinking and driving, it was an accident, and had you been speeding or driving recklessly it probably would have been worse. Thankfully everyone is fine. If the other driver sues, he will sue the insurance, not you. Your insurance may go up for a few years, or it may not.
I don’t think I know anyone (oh except for my husband who is afterall the world’s best driver, just ask him:rolleyes: ) who hasn’t been in at least a fender bender, or got a speeding ticket or scratched up their car when they made a mistake while driving.
I will keep you guys in my prayers.
 
I’ve crashed my car quite a bit. I bought a new $60,000 car last September and have smashed it up twice already! It happens. As long as everyone is OK, don’t worry. We all make mistakes!

:hug3:

God bless!
 
Car accidents of any kind are scary, and I can imagine that having the kids in the car made it moreso.

You aren’t alone, people here care.
 
Prayers for you and the other driver involved.

Don’t be so hard on yourself. You are human, humans make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes at some point when they are driving. It’s just that most of us are lucky enough that our mistakes don’t happen at the wrong place/time. Just keep reminding yourself that nobody lost their life in this accident and for that we should all be greatful. The cuts and scrapes will heal. Hopefully with some therapy, the emotional wounds will heal too. But life will go on. 😉
 
Thank you all for your kind words. I guess part of the reason I feel so badly is that this is my second accident in the last 10 years-- and the last accident I was in, the other woman (who, it was later determined, had some psychosocial/emotional issues) **did **sue me. In the end, it was all settled through the insurance company and we never had to go to court, but it was a few years of anxious back-and-forth.

I feel like a very bad driver who shouldn’t be allowed to transport children at high rates of speed!

Continue those prayers! :o
 
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