My dad had a [Brand] SUV for a good chunk of my childhood to adulthood. It was fifteen years old when I was eighteen and looked practically new. He always liked to joke that he bought it specifically to protect my mom and me and that this was cheaper than a tank — to which we would always give the obligatory dad-joke groan.
In the summer of 2019, my dad went to Texas to visit his parents. We got a call from him two weeks before he was supposed to come home, telling us he needed to get a rental car.
Mom: “What happened?”
Dad: “The car is totaled.”
Now, as a reminder, this car was fifteen years old. I’d assumed he’d run into a light pole a bit too hard, was told it wasn’t worth it to repair the car with how much the car was worth, and was advised to get a new car.
No problem. Dad was still talking to the police and could not give many details at the moment, so Mom contacted the rental car company — her English is better than his, but he is used to the insurance company — and we went about our day.
The next day, I walked into the kitchen to see my mom looking a bit shocked.
Mom: “So, you remember how Dad totaled his car yesterday?”
Me: “Yeah. Did he say what happened? He was busy yesterday when he called.”
Mom: “Yeah.”
As it turns out, Dad was turning left onto a fairly busy road. The light was green for him, and a car came speeding through a red light and sideswiped him on his passenger side while he was turning. They sideswiped him so hard, in fact, that his car actually fell onto its side!
The shocking thing is that Dad wasn’t hurt at all — not even a scratch. He had to climb out through the trunk because the doors on the driver’s side were obviously blocked, and the passenger side doors were being held shut via gravity, but otherwise, he escaped completely unharmed.
From Not Always Right:
My dad had a [Brand] SUV for a good chunk of my childhood to adulthood. It was fifteen years old when I was eighteen and looked practically new. He always liked to joke that he bought it specifically to protect my mom and me and that this was cheaper than a tank — to which we would always give the obligatory dad-joke groan.
In the summer of 2019, my dad went to Texas to visit his parents. We got a call from him two weeks before he was supposed to come home, telling us he needed to get a rental car.
Mom: “What happened?”
Dad: “The car is totaled.”
Now, as a reminder, this car was fifteen years old. I’d assumed he’d run into a light pole a bit too hard, was told it wasn’t worth it to repair the car with how much the car was worth, and was advised to get a new car.
No problem. Dad was still talking to the police and could not give many details at the moment, so Mom contacted the rental car company — her English is better than his, but he is used to the insurance company — and we went about our day.
The next day, I walked into the kitchen to see my mom looking a bit shocked.
Mom: “So, you remember how Dad totaled his car yesterday?”
Me: “Yeah. Did he say what happened? He was busy yesterday when he called.”
Mom: “Yeah.”
As it turns out, Dad was turning left onto a fairly busy road. The light was green for him, and a car came speeding through a red light and sideswiped him on his passenger side while he was turning. They sideswiped him so hard, in fact, that his car actually fell onto its side!
The shocking thing is that Dad wasn’t hurt at all — not even a scratch. He had to climb out through the trunk because the doors on the driver’s side were obviously blocked, and the passenger side doors were being held shut via gravity, but otherwise, he escaped completely unharmed.
Continued