Bear and car collide in South Lake

LAKE TAHOE - Sixteen-year-old Cassy Smith got what she wanted for next month's birthday present: keys to a 1992 Subaru Legacy.

But her maiden drive ended abruptly last week when she rounded the corner of Tahoe Keys and Eloise at the same time as a 200-pound California black bear.

"There was a thunk, and the next thing I saw was a bear," said Dave Smith, her father, who was in the car. "He clobbered the side of the car. He stood there, dazed, and then took off running."

The two, along with brother David, were uninjured, and the bear seemed to be OK, too. It bounded off into the woods.

"If my daughter had come home and told me a bear had hit her I would never have believed it," Dave Smith said. "What are the chances? The day we register the car, a bear hits it?"

The driver's side of the car received the most damage: The doors were pitted with big dents that look like - well - a 200-pound wild animal ran head first into it.

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 took out for the car earlier that day did not cover collisions, especially ones with a bear.

When family friend Amanda Parker learned the car she sold to Cassy, a South Tahoe High School junior, was struck by a bear, the 19-year-old first reacted with disbelief.

"No way," she told Cassy's brother, David. "Not 'My Baby.'"

My Baby was known around South Tahoe High School as the SpongeBob car because Amanda had the interior decked out in SpongeBob Squarepants seat covers and plastic toys.

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 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."