Car Accident Gave Me A Reality Check

It was my second day of my freshmen year of college was on my way to pick up a friend and a large pick up truck rear ended me after I signaled to make a left lane change after getting lost. Everything started to escalate from there. It was all very sudden. I remember the first thing I did was got out of the car and saw the back the of trunk and it was pretty messed up.It felt like the end of the world for me, still kinda does right now. I went toward the truck driver and saw that they were okay, and the only damage was the rear end of my car. This was my first ever accident and I did not think this would ever happened to me. I didn’t know what to do and stood there beside the truck driver, contemplating my life up until this point. The driver suggested that I made a 911 call and do I did and told the operator what had happened.

Finally a made call to my mom and I was expecting her to go nuts on the phone; however, that was not the case at all. She was very calmed and asked me if I was alright. I told her what had transpired and she told me call the insurance company and asked where I was. The car’s rear end was screwed up but the car itself was still drivable so me and the truck driver went to a safer location so we wouldn’t block the roadway. They were very cool about it, no insane outburst.The police arrived on scene and determined I was at fault and gave me a citation for unsafe lane change, and that me felt even more worse. I knew it was my probably my fault because I got lost and started to get angry; therefore, I didn’t check carefully to see if the lane was safe enough turn.

Both my parents came and I started to feel so ashamed and disappointed in myself. I began to realized how much trouble this going to cause for them because of this and realized how lucky I am to still even be standing here alive. I was filled with a mixture of emotions at that point. I should’ve listen to my dad and mom about driving safely, especially my mom, I started to regret how I treated her in the past. Despite after all the trouble I’ve caused her she was not mad at me and was glad that I was alive and I was relieved for not getting yelled at, pretty pathetic. I couldn’t help but almost cry. I locked myself in my room and began rethinking about my life and how this will forever affect me emotionally and how important my parents are to me. Anything could’ve happened to me today and you’ll never realized it until it’s too late.

Had my mom not been on the phone and told me what to do I don’t know what I would do. Just wanted to let this out. I don’t
have anyone I can talk to about this comfortably. It’s going to take a while for me to get over this and I’m sorry if I seem to be making such a big deal over this since no one got hurt and there are people with more fatal accidents but this was an impactful event for me and I want to pay back my parents for everything they have done for me.

So glad you and the other driver were not physically injured. I was in a serious accident in my early 20s which I caused. While my car was totaled, no one was injured. I also felt guilt. You will feel better over time. The biggest payback for your parents is for you to be a safer driver. Take this as a lesson.

Hello friend! I just got myself into an accident 3 days ago, and it was totally my fault. At first, I didn’t tell my parents because I was so scared and just wanted to hide it until this morning when the insurance company called my stepdad. He was a bit mad at first but he ended up comforting me and telling me that everything is no big deal. Things happen and he had accidents when he was my age too.

So what happened was that, I was supposed to make a right turn exiting a parking lot and I pulled up a little too far into the street then I saw a car coming so I decided to backup a little, and that’s when I backed up into the car behind me at maybe 3 or 5 mph. And guess what, the car that was coming my way stopped bc another car cut him off. The minor accident ended up with a fingerprint size scrape of paint on my back bumper and almost the same size of damage on the other car. I got super scared when the other driver started continually screaming “this is unreal!” Because he bought the car the day of.

So yea my stepdad found out because the car insurance called him and it didn’t end up being that bad because he’s an expert at car insurance. We got into a car accident 3 years ago that totaled our car and that accident is at max 50 yard away from the accident I got into 3 days ago. So I think I will avoid that part of the city from now on.

I just hope that the insurance rate would not go up after this minor fender bender because the damage is at max $1000. Another thing is that, we are trying to tell my mom soon without making her super mad because she’s the strict one in the family, and my parents are going to Italy on 5 days, so I don’t want to ruin their mood.

That’s it. I just wanted to share my story as a teen getting into my first car accident. Lesson learned: always tell your parents immediately becaus your anxiety builds up after you get home. 1 in 5 teens get into accidents (most of them are just minor ones) this is like a learning experience I guess. Oh shoot this is so long, but sharing this releases my anxiety from it. I don’t really have anyone to share this with neither because all my friends are either new drivers too or still haven’t gotten their drivers license. I’m 20 days from being 18.

I’m super glad that this accident is only very minor and I learned a lot from it. My only regret is not telling my parents soon enough

I appreciate your “voice” in your writing. You’re a good kid who took this experience to grow and learn. I read a college essay in this.

@Alexia423, please go to your student counseling center and ask to speak to someone. You don’t want to continue to stuff this inside - it will be very harmful. A therapist can help you work through it all. Good luck!

Why don’t you tell your mom how grateful you are to her? If it’s a hard conversation, write her a letter. You could, but don’t have to, give her a small trinket so she can have some physical remembrance of your gratitude. I think you would feel better if you knew how you felt, and honestly, this conversation could really help strengthen your relationship as it moves to one between 2 adults.

I am glad you shared with us. Talking about something helps. May I also suggest that you see your College Counseling Center and talk to someone there.