A Parents worst fear

[BENT_8]

To lose a child at the hands of another.

As a father of teenage children, one of my greatest fears as they approach driving age, is the thought of losing one of them to a vehicle acccident at the hands of an inexperienced driver.
I've mentioned it on a number of occasions in threads revolving around inexperienced drivers etc.

Well im sorry to say that as a Father i let my gaurd down and almost paid the ultimate price Saturday night.

My second eldest is a month away from her 15th birthday, for 10 months she has been working in a local fast food outlet where she became friends with a girl a few years older than her.
At first the thought of my 14yr old mixing with a 17yr old with a licence and car had my senses raised.
25yrs ago i lost my 15yr old sister in a car accident at the hands of a reckless driver.

It started off with an innocent ride home after work, which is when we first met her. She seemed like a really grounded young lady, polite, respectful, well presented and hard working.
She is going through a hard time at home and we felt really sorry for her.

Not long after my daughter asked if she could go with her to watch her play netball. I asked all the right questions, where are you playing, what time do you finish, when will you be home and most importantly, be careful.
Then one night when she dropped my daughter off i hung around outside doing a few jobs before turning in. She drove off from our street in a manner which i considered inappropriate. I listened as she turned a few corners and took off down the main road.
The next day i mentioned it to my Son whom im currently teaching to drive. He told me that she is an idiot behind the wheel and he wont ride with her again. I raised the issue around the kitchen table that night and got the typical teenage response..'But Daddy...'
I should have put an end to it then but against everything i have ever said on the matter and an overwhelming gut feeling, i caved in.

On Saturday a group of mates and i took a trip up the Riverland for a game of Bowls.
Everything was going fine until i recieved a call from my Wife telling me my greatest fear in life had come within feet of being a reality.
The story goes that my Daughter, a friend and the driver had asked my wife if they could go to the drivers house for a few hours, its only a 5 minute drive through some back streets. My Wife said ok.
At some stage between here and there, the driver decided she wanted to go for a drive through the hills to 'clear her mind'.
Apparently a teenage girl on her 'P's considers 140k/hr on winding, undulating, unlit, country road as the ideal conditions.
Not something i've ever considered but i am talking about the current generation of self believers here.
Despite my Daughter and her friends hysterical pleas to stop and let them out she continued on, only then mentioning that she had been drinking before picking them up, she turned 18 last Wednesday.

So they make the first few bends, are forced to slow to 80k at a sharp bend before accelerating again. In the blink of an eye she touched the gravel shoulder, overcorrected and sent the car sideways towards the only solid tree within 300mtrs.
By the grace of God i sit here typing this rather than arranging my Daughters funeral.
The car, a early 2000 era Astra plowed head first in to a large gum tree and burst in to flames. Fortunately the passenger cell remained intact and the doors could be opened.
The Driver jumped from the wreck and sat in the middle of the road screaming, leaving my injured Daughter and back seat passenger in the car fillling with black smoke.
My Daughter got out and dragged her friend who was unable to breath properly from the burning car. My Daughter screamed at the driver to ring emergency services, the driver told her to do it.
So at 8pm on a Saturday night my 14 yr ld Daughter places a call to 000 to report the accident, she had no idea where she was though.
It is at that moment that an angel appeared in the form of a large bloke with big bushy beard from his driveway. He had heard the bang, the following hysterical screaming and saw the glow of the burning wreck.
Emergency services were already in response by the time my Daughter made her call
I shudder to think what was going through his mind as he rushed towards the scene, and the relief when he saw everyone out of the car despite their injuries.
The firies came and extinguished the car and tree, the Amobo's checked them all out and they went to hospital for xrays etc.

When i got the call to say what had happened i was gutted, i failed as Parent to protect my Daughter from becoming a victim of someone elses doing and we almost paid the ultimate price.

I took a drive up there in the light of day to see where it all happened and as i stood there looking at the slide marks, the broken glass and the charred tree trunk i couldnt help but feel an overwhelming sense of shame, sadness, anger and ultimately relief that my Daughter had survived a scenario which often ends in tragedy. A foot either way and im not so sure.

Not that long ago we were discussing the removal of tree's from the side of country roads in the Adelaide hills and here i was standing before an old gum tree on the side of a country road in the Adelaide hills.
I cant blame the tree though., its been there for years.
But as i looked down at the remnants of the car a small piece of square plastic flipped over in the breeze, her 'P' plate...

Theres a big fella with a bushy beard who will be recieving a cold slab of SA's best in the next few days. I hope he enjoys every drop.