Being in a car accident is one of the biggest life lessons I’ve wanted to avoid for awhile. I’ve never thought about having to face the consequences or having to deal with the disappointment of my parents. From a harmless outing for lunch during school turned into a life lesson that came early in a Sonic parking lot. I know right, a parking lot, out of all places to have an accident. You're telling me…
During the afternoon, me and my twin sister didn't want to attend class because we had a sub and lunch was right after our English class. Thinking nothing of it, we decided to hop in my car and take a quick trip to our local Sonic to get a quick snack. All though, we should have been in class at the time we thought nothing of it since, we’ve gone out for lunch many times before. Of course the drive there was smooth and enjoyable since we were on our way to get food.
Being oblivious to what was going to unfold 15 mins from now; I pulled in and chose a parking spot. We stared at the menu on our phone and we came to the decision that Sonic was too expensive and only one of us had a job (Me); so we only had 15$ in our bank account. We opted for a cheaper option and decided to head out back to your school. As I was pulling out of the parking lot I was aimlessly paying more attention to what was on my sister's phone than the road.
Without knowing there was another car pulling out also and I was backing up. Soon enough me and another car both collide with each other. My heart dropped, I just realized that I had been in an accident. Most importantly It was definitely my fault. With having little to no experience being in these situations, I pulled back into the parking spot I was originally in. I opened my door and sat in my car for a little bit trying to recollect what just happened. But soon enough I came to my senses and grabbed my insurance book and stepped out. Meanwhile my sister was freaking out about what we should do and calling her boyfriend for emotional support.
I went out to access the other car's damage and what do you know there was a huge dent on the back of the other person's car. At that time I felt super embarrassed, because how could something so simple as backing out of a parking lot turn into an accident. Everything that you're supposed to do when you get into an accident I did the opposite of. I gave him all of my information and got none of his. The man seemed very disappointed and I honestly think I ruined his day. I apologize profusely but that wasn’t going to fix the dent left in his car. Shortly after, I waited for him to pull out and leave, then we headed back to our school.
I sat there in the parking lot of our school talking to my sister about what we should do next. And obviously it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I did not want to make the phone call to my parents but I had to. More than ever I got an ear full from my mom but she was just happy that we were ok. Consequences were applied, meaning I couldn’t go anywhere except for school and work. I was sad for a brief moment but I understood why. I was fully prepared to pay for the damages that were done to my car and then I learned that isn’t how insurance works. I remember that I felt terrible all day because this accident could have been simply avoided if I would have just looked up or had stopped looking at the phone. It was a very humbling experience that made me realize that something so harmless as going out to get lunch could have been alot worse.
This accidently taught me a valuable lesson that I should always be aware of what's happening around me and most importantly to never drive while distracted. Ever since that day I’ve always put my phone away and out of reach. I always check my mirror’s more oftenly and when backing out I always turn my head. I am thankful that neither me or my sister were hurt and I’ll always remember this experience.