Modern Vespa

My wife was at a stop sign on her route to the grocer when....BAM....something slams into the right rear bumper. It's the teenager on his scooter she saw in her rear view seconds before! She got out and insisted on the kid telling her how he felt, and responding to her inquiries about his injuries. The kids scooter was pretty well mangled, by her description, and there are a number of deep scratches in the Camry bumper cover.
(now matches the side panels covered in grocery cart scars!) She determined the damage to the car was surface scratching and insisted the kid sit down and relax. He apparently was amazed by her calmness and kept asking why she wasn't upset, and "I wish my mom was this mellow..". Julie explained that her husband road a scooter too, and that paint scratches are nothing more than that.....
He kept apologizing for being "stupid" and said he was "looking the other way"!

It could have been so much worse!

Those blasted scooter riders

Hopefully he'll realise he's had a lucky escape and will be more careful in future. How can you be "looking the other way" on the approach to a set of lights

Your lady sounds like a chilled kinda gal.

Riding scooters is not much different than driving cars. A high proportion of accidents are due to inexperience and lack of defensive driving skills. The young fellow will likely become a better rider through time if he doesn't mangle his scooter or himself first. (thats the point of MSF, helps you up the steep part of the learning curve)

So glad your wife didn't have to face a "stupid dead kid," that it was only a minor accident. This does point up that it isn't always the cager at fault, and we have gotta be extra alert. A minor fender bender, the kind that happens all the time because of a moments distraction, can maim or kill a rider. And your wife sounds like a good and steady soul.

Good for her - she turned it into a (hopefully) very effective teaching moment for the kid.

She is a retired teacher and figures the damage to his scoot and his obvious shame was lesson enough from her.

Bravo to her To many people today would have gotten out screaming, just making the situation worse. I wish everyone would be that level headed and realize that no one got hurt, and that what insurance is for.

I fully agree.

Give her my best! Need more people like you two around!

Always good to hear of accidents like these. It's one of the most effective ways of young riders/drivershaving a taste of the concequenses of their actions and attitude on the road.
It may sound a bit harsh, but I hope he got a little hurt too, so that the experience was that bit more effective. Hopefully this may have stopped him causing a future accident with far more serious concequenses.
Bravo to you wife for being so calm.

You're married?!
I never would have guessed.

With you for a husband I can see she must have a lot of patience.
I guess all that practice enabled her to be easy on the kid.
Fill out the application for sainthood today.

Great story.

FFS it's Sunday morning, and first off I get a diatribe about my marital status from you!
Yeah all that's kind and good, mere slivers here and there, are a direct result of her influences. But hey old fat guys always get the good looking angels!

Years ago a woman pulled an abrupt left across my lane(oncoming). I pitched my Rally 200 perpedicular to her front right and jumped up. Landed on her hood in a seated positon. Once we pulled off to the side she was hysterical. I was trying to calm HER down. When she finally calmed down i suggested she write me a check for like $160 to replace my headlight and crashbars that were broken( i had preexisting paint damage any way). Then she got all wierd and wanted insurance to handle it. After much negotiation they paid me $1500 minus $150 salvage value. So I kept the scooter and $1350. It was sweet.

Five bucks says there was some good lookn honey an this dude was having a Phoebe Cates moment. Hey, you know I always thought you where *whack!*

You were clearly suffering from "post-traumatic stress" or whatever. A good argument for not making important financial decisions in the confusion of a vehicle accident!