I’ve had a 2006 Prius since August 2006 and completely love the car. Since then I’ve added some “features” that the original car doesn’t have:

• Mud Flaps
• Automatic Door Lock
• Electric Button
• Shark Fin Antenna
• LED Exterior Lamp replacements (all but turn signals and front marker lamps)
• LED License Plate surround (wired to light with the brake lights)

Yeah, you could say that I love my car!

Today I had the whole family packed into it (4 kids in the back seat, I know, sharing seatbelts isn’t wise) and was stopped, waiting in line to make a left-hand turn from one busy road to another. Just as I was about to enter the intersection I was hit from behind — hard. The car did exactly what it was supposed to. The rear bumper and crumple zone absorbed most of the shock and took all the noticeable damage.

We felt a hard jolt, the seat belts locked, and we were all surprised and left wondering what had just happened. Our 3 month-old baby (in his rear-facing car seat placed in the middle of the back seat) slept through the impact.

Everyone in our Prius was uninjured (though my wife complained of a stiff neck not long after), the car that hit us (a ‘95 Subaru GL Sedan) had both driver and passenger airbags deploy (though their was no passenger in her car). Her front windshield was shattered and large chunks broken out (I found pieces of glass across the top of my Prius and on to the hood). She had minor injuries from the airbag deployment.

“Accident with injuries and airbag deployment” was called in, police were on scene within 2 minutes and EMS (fire ambulance and fire truck) within 4 minutes.

Our Prius was drivable with no immediate damage to the rear marker lights, turn signals, or brake lamps. We finished our information exchange and were on our way. I called in the information to my insurance company (Bear River Mutual) and was told they’d call me the next business day with instructions.

More information (regarding repair estimates, times, and whatnot) to follow.