Scott's Car Accident

So tonight was quite stressful. I'm pretty tired, so without going into a lot of detail, here's what happened.

At about 5:30 PM, Scott went to pick up Samantha & Jesse, who had been having a play day. These friends live on a very steep road, which is currently covered almost completely in ice.

Scott got about 3/4 of the way up the hill, when the Magnum fishtailed, lost control, and slid backwards into a snow bank and a telephone box (I'm not exactly sure what these are called, but picture a metal box with cables inside).

He couldn't back out because of the box, and he couldn't go forward because he was stuck in 2-3 feet of snow and ice going uphill. He called me to come pick up the kids and take them home, then called our Roadside Assistance.

When the tow truck arrived, they called the police (because of the damage to the box) and then tried, unsuccessfully to get the Magnum out. Finally, with the help of Jeff, who arrived with his Jeep (4 x 4) about 45 minutes after the tow truck, they were able to get Scott out.

The police weren't done with Scott though, and were threatening to charge him with reckless driving and fine him for not having valid plates and insurance.

First of all, they were upset that the call came from the tow truck, and not Scott himself, and were really mad that he damaged the box thing.

Second, our plates expired last week, and we've had the renewals on the side of our fridge for weeks, but hadn't gotten around to renewing them yet.

Third, when Scott made the call to Roadside Assistance from inside the van (when I was picking up the kids) he had left all of the documents from the Magnum on the front seat of the van, which was at home, so he couldn't produce them for the officer at the scene.

The officer followed him home, where he produced the insurance documents and explained the situation regarding the ice and the slipping, etc. and finally the police decided not to charge or fine him after all.

By the time the officer left our house it was after 9:00 PM. I had long since missed Ward Council and the kids were still a bit worked up about everything (getting stuck, Dad being gone so long, the police coming over) so they were having a hard time getting to sleep.

Anyway, it's all over now, and I'm so thankful everything worked out fine. The only thing damaged is our rear bumper, and I guess we'll have to take a look in the morning to see if it's worth filing an insurance claim.