>Tracy,
>
>Glad to hear that the kids weren't hurt too bad. I know how scary that can be (my oldest son had a pretty bad accident about 10 years ago, he swerved to avoid hitting several deer and ended up losing control and hitting a tree and totally demolished the front end of his car ... he wasn't hurt, but his then-girlfriend broke both her ankles).
>
>But, what I wanted to comment on was the lady who went on a tirade and yelled at everyone. Gary and I were involved in an accident a few years ago ... he almost avoided it by quick reactions (he'd been involved with race car driving for a couple of years), but the lady hit us anyway. We got spun around and ended up backend first in the irrigation ditch (our trunk filled up with water). Neither of us were hurt, but we were most definitely very angry at the stupid driver that hit us. We managed to climb out of our car and out of the ditch without getting wet, all set to start yelling at the driver. Until we saw her. She was an elderly lady (82 as it turned out) and she was just sitting there with her head on her arms on the wheel, not moving at all. We thought she was hurt and boy, did that ever change everything! All the anger went away and we were very concerned about her. My point with this story is that anger is the first reaction, probably from anybody (unless you're hurt, then it's probably fear). I think it's a natural reaction. But then you get over it. You have to, if you're a civilized person.

Some years ago our car was hit in the back (rear-ended) on the highway when we had to slowdown due to a jam. The damage was substantial, no injuries however. I recall that I was not angry at all. Instead, right from the moment that it happened I was very calm and understanding and helpful. The fellow from the other car apologized et cetera, right from the beginning of our conversation, but he was also upset and nervous and I tried to relax him, while phoning the police. This is just one anecdote, but it is proof that anger is not always the first reaction.