REAR-ENDED...

Leaving dance today, we hadn't even made it to the end of the street...

 We were stopped at the red light on Halls Ferry and Cain Ridge, a few cars back due to "rush hour" (small town rush hour), with another car fully stopped behind us, when we suddenly heard a loud crash followed quickly by a second crunching noise as our van was lurched forward. A little bit of whiplash, then I turned around to see if the kids were ok. They had shocked looks on their faces, but said they were fine, just that they had "smacked their heads" against their car seats (I assume on the whiplash return). I looked in my rearview mirror to see the lady behind me holding her neck, with a very grumpy look on her face. I told the kids to stay buckled while I got out to find out what had happened. Apparently the lady driving the Armada behind me had moved into my lane from the far lane just 10 seconds or so before getting to the light, came to a stop, and was then rear-ended by a lady driving a Rogue. The Rogue lady got out of her car crying and apologizing, which intensified when she learned she'd hit not one, but two cars, and that there were children in both cars. We assured her we were all ok, called the police (while an off-duty sheriff happened to be driving by on his way home from work, so he helped keep our scene safe while we waiting for the on-duty officer), called Jay (who was just a few minutes down the road at work), made the initial report, moved the vehicles into the nearby church parking lot, exchanged information and finished the report, then went on our way. Sure, the resulting paperwork and phone calls and repair will be time consuming, but nobody was hurt, and that's the important part. It's a no-fault accident, so we won't have to pay anything, thankfully (the Rogue lady had insurance). The kids learned a valuable lesson about how very easy it is to get in an accident and why we're so strict about car seats and safety belts. And we made it home before the intense storms rolled into town, so that was a bonus.