my daughter was in a big crash similar to his last year. she didn't even have her license yet, just a learner's permit. she saw a car with a turn signal on and assumed they were actually turning. now experienced drivers know to wait and make sure, but she just pulled out and got t-boned right at the drivers door/wheel. she was very lucky she was in an SUV and hit by a car, so the force all went below her driver's seat.
still it was very traumatic for her and my wife who was riding shotgun. I was still deployed to Afghanistan so not there to help. we had comprehensive, but I had just raised the deductible from $500 to $1000 a couple weeks earlier to save like $20 (oops).
it took my daughter awhile before she was ready to get behind the wheel again and try learning to drive again. it is very scary, but I wanted to make sure it didn't define driving for her; she needed to overcome it and learn be a good driver, not afraid of everything but she had to go at her own pace a bit.