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Dan Thrift / Tahoe Daily Tribune / Cassy Smith, 16, sits in her 1992 Subaru Legacy that was damaged by a bear.
After driving her parents' car, 16-year-old Cassy Smith got what she wanted for next month's birthday present: keys to a 1992 Subaru Legacy.
Dave Smith, Cassy's father, said it was nearly a Kodak moment in taking his daughter - a South Tahoe High School junior - to the DMV to get the car registered on May 18. He helped cover the $2,000 price tag when the car was purchased from a family friend the night before.
The checklist of things to do that day consisted of three tasks: Get the Subaru smogged, insured and registered. About 4:30 that afternoon everything came together. Paperwork cleared the DMV's scrutiny. It was time for the father and daughter to go home and tell mom the good news.
But first, they had to stop by Barton Memorial Hospital to pick up Cassy's brother David, who was hospitalized after suffering a leg injury a few days earlier.
With Cassy proudly at the wheel, brother David in the front seat and father Dave Smith in the backseat, a bit overwhelmed in the rite of passage moment, Cassy rounded the corner of Tahoe Keys and Eloise.
So did a 200-pound California black bear. A collision suddenly became immenent.
"There was a thunk and the next thing I saw was a bear. He clobbered the side of the car. He stood there, dazed and then took off running," Dave Smith said.
At first Cassy worried about the bear. Is it all right? Is it hurt?
Dave Smith, Cassy's father, said it was nearly a Kodak moment in taking his daughter - a South Tahoe High School junior - to the DMV to get the car registered on May 18. He helped cover the $2,000 price tag when the car was purchased from a family friend the night before.
The checklist of things to do that day consisted of three tasks: Get the Subaru smogged, insured and registered. About 4:30 that afternoon everything came together. Paperwork cleared the DMV's scrutiny. It was time for the father and daughter to go home and tell mom the good news.
But first, they had to stop by Barton Memorial Hospital to pick up Cassy's brother David, who was hospitalized after suffering a leg injury a few days earlier.
With Cassy proudly at the wheel, brother David in the front seat and father Dave Smith in the backseat, a bit overwhelmed in the rite of passage moment, Cassy rounded the corner of Tahoe Keys and Eloise.
So did a 200-pound California black bear. A collision suddenly became immenent.
"There was a thunk and the next thing I saw was a bear. He clobbered the side of the car. He stood there, dazed and then took off running," Dave Smith said.
At first Cassy worried about the bear. Is it all right? Is it hurt?
Dave Smith first thought of his daughter. Is she all right? Is she hurt?
On the passenger side, David started laughing.
Cassy pulled over. Father and daughter inspected the damage.
Each looked at each other together and said: "Oh my God."
David continued to laugh as his father chased after the bear with a cell phone to his ear talking to police.
The driver's side of the car received the most damage: Both doors pitted with big dents that look like, well, a 200-pound wild animal ran head first into it, collected himself and scampered into the woods for a few hundred yards before clearing a fence.
Cassy, her brother, father and a neighbor who witnessed the accident all agreed the bear appeared to be OK after the time of the impact.
The next day, on Friday, Cassy and her brother took the car to a repair shop for an estimate. The Subaru Legacy that cost $2,000 had $1,800 in damage. The insurance policy Cassy got for the car did not cover collisions, especially ones with a bear.
On the passenger side, David started laughing.
Cassy pulled over. Father and daughter inspected the damage.
Each looked at each other together and said: "Oh my God."
David continued to laugh as his father chased after the bear with a cell phone to his ear talking to police.
The driver's side of the car received the most damage: Both doors pitted with big dents that look like, well, a 200-pound wild animal ran head first into it, collected himself and scampered into the woods for a few hundred yards before clearing a fence.
Cassy, her brother, father and a neighbor who witnessed the accident all agreed the bear appeared to be OK after the time of the impact.
The next day, on Friday, Cassy and her brother took the car to a repair shop for an estimate. The Subaru Legacy that cost $2,000 had $1,800 in damage. The insurance policy Cassy got for the car did not cover collisions, especially ones with a bear.
When family friend Amanda Parker learned the car she sold to Cassy was struck by a bear, the 19-year-old first reacted with disbelief.
"Yeah, right," she told Cassy's brother David, who spilled the beans between fits of laughter.
"No way," she told him next. "Not 'My Baby'."
(My Baby, coincidentally, is what Parker called the Subaru since the day she got from a car lot three years prior. My Baby was known around South Tahoe High School as the Sponge Bob car. Likely because Amanda had the interior decked out in Sponge Bob Squarepants seat covers and plastic toys.)
David's laughter never quit. Amanda chided him, saying it wasn't funny. Nearly a week later, she still doesn't see the humor.
"It's sort of random," she said. "I don't think it's funny because it was 'My Baby'."
For now, Cassy said she'll keep the car, despite the 105,000 miles on the odometer, a couple of new shiners on its side and the windows being difficult (but not impossible) to roll down. She's even thinking of giving it a new name and look. One friend suggested she use paint to stencil bear paws along the damaged door. New names such as Boo Boo and Tinkerbear have been tossed around. She said she may settle on simply calling the car Tank.
Without the dents, the car had its own identity, she said.
"Yeah, right," she told Cassy's brother David, who spilled the beans between fits of laughter.
"No way," she told him next. "Not 'My Baby'."
(My Baby, coincidentally, is what Parker called the Subaru since the day she got from a car lot three years prior. My Baby was known around South Tahoe High School as the Sponge Bob car. Likely because Amanda had the interior decked out in Sponge Bob Squarepants seat covers and plastic toys.)
David's laughter never quit. Amanda chided him, saying it wasn't funny. Nearly a week later, she still doesn't see the humor.
"It's sort of random," she said. "I don't think it's funny because it was 'My Baby'."
For now, Cassy said she'll keep the car, despite the 105,000 miles on the odometer, a couple of new shiners on its side and the windows being difficult (but not impossible) to roll down. She's even thinking of giving it a new name and look. One friend suggested she use paint to stencil bear paws along the damaged door. New names such as Boo Boo and Tinkerbear have been tossed around. She said she may settle on simply calling the car Tank.
Without the dents, the car had its own identity, she said.
"I bought it because I wanted a Subaru Legacy because it is a great Tahoe car," she said.
And with the dents?
"I don't know. It's probably more of a Tahoe car."
When reached Tuesday, Cassy's brother David said he's managed to tell everyone he knows about the unique collision.
"Of all people it happened to my sister," the college-bound South Tahoe senior said. "She's already a nervous driver."
Dave Smith put the accident into perspective as only a father can do.
"If my daughter had come home and told me a bear had hit her I would never have believed it," he said. "What are the chances? The day we register the car, a bear hits it?"
Only at Lake Tahoe.
And with the dents?
"I don't know. It's probably more of a Tahoe car."
When reached Tuesday, Cassy's brother David said he's managed to tell everyone he knows about the unique collision.
"Of all people it happened to my sister," the college-bound South Tahoe senior said. "She's already a nervous driver."
Dave Smith put the accident into perspective as only a father can do.
"If my daughter had come home and told me a bear had hit her I would never have believed it," he said. "What are the chances? The day we register the car, a bear hits it?"
Only at Lake Tahoe.
