An Early Morning Surprise

I had a surprise when I came home from the gym this morning. When I pulled up to my house there were 3 cars parked in front of my driveway blocking it. I parked across the street and walked up. When I walked up I saw the reason for all the commotion in my driveway. My mailbox was laying in the yard~in pieces. Along with the million pieces of what was formerly my mailbox my yard was rutted and there were black tire marks across my driveway. I was approached by a man who was very apologetic. He explained that his daughter (who was sitting in a car and would not get out) had just gotten her drivers license. She was on her way to pick up a friend down the street. He doesn't know how it happened, but she hit our mailbox. Upon further inspection, she had hit my neighbor's mailbox as well. I don't think her dad was very pleased with her. Her mother was sitting in another car. She was very apologetic as well. I laughed and said that "I was a new driver once upon a time too." No one was hurt and mailboxes can be replaced. During this conversation Mr. Mayer came outside as well. It was freezing so I was anxious to get this conversation wrapped up. We exchanged information and the man said that he would replace our mailbox (and the neighbors). True to his word the mailbox should be installed in the next day or two. I felt for the guy. We have a neighborhood covenant and are required to have a specific mailbox. A specific mailbox that has to be specially made. Fortunately this can be done fairly quickly.
It's unclear how the girl happened to drive over mine and my neighbor's mailboxes. I don't know what conversations happened between her and her parents. Judging from our conversations with her dad she is in a little bit of trouble. It baffles me even more that her car was damaged on the passenger side when the drivers side was the one closest to the mailbox. My suspicion is that she was on her cell phone. Talking. Texting. I don't know. And, I don't know for fact she was. That's just my unsupported guess.
Now, I'm going to tell on myself. I used to be very strict about not texting and driving. I would only talk on my phone with a hands free device of some sort. However, over the past couple of years I have gotten lax in my strict rule and I find myself texting and driving a great deal. I hadn't noticed, until Diva asked me last week "Mom. Are you texting and driving? That's bad. You aren't supposed to do that." Uh oh. Busted. And, how does my nearly 6 year old know this? As I stood in the freezing cold this morning looking at the remains of my mailbox the conversation with Diva came back to my mind. Then I thought, what if it had been later in the day? What if the kids and I were in the front yard? What if Diva had been riding her bike on the sidewalk? Those thoughts scared me. Yikes! I have heard news reports and seen pictures and articles on the dangers of texting and driving. It just hadn't hit home to me until this morning. So, I am back on the wagon. I'm going to put my phone down in the car and make a conscious effort to not text and drive.