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Fender bender
Mar. 13th, 2003 03:01 pmFuck. So I'm visiting Mom yesterday, and we're coming back from the clinic. She lives in a 4-plex, which has a small parking lot (8 spaces) in front of it. As I started to pull in to the lot, another car was backing out. I stopped, expecting that she would see me then either pull back in, or stop and give me a chance to back out. At about the same time Mom was saying "I don't think she sees you" I honked first briefly, then a longer honk. As I was trying to back out, the car banged into mine.
I pulled mine into a parking lot after she pulled forward. Mom said "Oh shit, she's a former client of mine and she hates me because I reported her to her PO [parole officer]. Do you need me to call the cops?" I was unsure, but when the woman came out of her car and immediately began screaming at me, I said "Yes, call them." She went inside. The woman, a scrawny toothless Jerry Springer guest-looking old bitch, yelled things like 'what are you doing?' and among other things said I never honked, there was no damage to her car so she wasn't going to give me her insurance agency, and things along that vein. When I began to argue about what had happened, she got louder and just denied everything that came out of my mouth, so I quietly said 'OK, calm down, I don't want to stand here and scream about this.' I went and got a pen and paper and wrote down her license place number, which caused her to again start yelling at me 'What are you doing?' I told her I was writing down her license plate number, and asked for her name, which she gave me. She then got in her car and drove off, and I went inside.
Mom said she had called the cops. The woman's daughter (early 20s, was trying to calm her mother down in the parking lot) came over and asked for my insurance information, which I gave her, and said she would try to get her mother's information when she returned. Mom went outside and waited for the cops while I called my insurance company. I also took my pentacle necklace off... I'm not ashamed of anything, but Bryan is a small, very conservative town and I didn't see any point in stacking the deck against my favor. One cop showed up, and Mom came in and got me. He was talking to the woman (in a rare moment of pettiness, I shall refer to her as 'Skank-ho') who was filling out a form. After a minute, he came over and looked at my car, and started filling out another form. He then asked me what happened and I told him. He handed me the form, and told me to fill it out, which I did. We were both filling out the same form, which included all sorts of shit like our addresses in addition to our insurance information, and traded forms (great, she has my address). He explained that since there was no major damage and no injuries, he was not filing a report. We were to send copies of these forms to our insurance companies.
Skank-ho immediately said that she wasn't going to do anything since her car was undamaged, and she was obviously in the right since I hit her. He explained that since she was backing out of a private driveway into a public street, the burden was in her to watch for traffic. She argued with him, and re-stated that I had hit her, and she was in the right. He re-stated what he'd said, and this went back and forth a couple of times, until I finally said "I didn't hit you!" and she began arguing with me. I then just shook my head and said nothing, and she eventually went inside. The cop said "You ought to call her insurance right away. If she gives you any trouble or they won't take care of it, call me and I'll take care of it." He then gave me a card with his name, badge number, and circled a phone number. He seemed more friendly and less business-like with me then, which was nice and comforting.
I went inside and called her insurance company. They couldn't immediately find her, which makes me think that the car was insured under her daughter's name and I hope that she was on the policy. They gave me an 800 number to call and said 'tell them exactly what you told me.' I called them, and they gave me a claim number and said that they would need to have one of their guys come out and check the damage. There is a dimple right in the center of the hood at the very front that was about 4 inches long and 8 inches wide. It's right up at the grill, which had that chrome-looking plastic over it that wasn't even scratched. The mechanism for unlatching the hood seems hard to get to, and I think it was pushed back.
It drove fine, and I remained pretty calm throughout the whole ordeal. I had a Nancy Kerrigan-ish moment where I wanted to cry and go 'why me?' but I kept it all in the internal realm since I didn't want Mom to stress out. She was already trying to blame herself for it... I just hoped the Skank-ho wouldn't retaliate against Mom, who lives in the same 4-plex.
So I drove home last night without event, and pulled the car right up against the garage when I got here. My insurance company called this morning, and said that in all likelihood, Skank-ho's insurance would not pay for it since it was her word against mine, and the cop's word wouldn't matter since he was not a witness. I went out to get some lunch for me and hub, and glanced down at the damage. As I did, I noticed further damage. On the front bumper, there was a chip of paint missing, a curved black mark, and the shape of a fish (about 1.5 inches long, like a Goldfish cracker shape, not a line drawing like a Jesus fish) appears to have been gouged out of the paint. It looks like someone hit it with a bat or kicked it really hard, then cut this shit in the bumper. Since my car was pulled up against the house, I'm pretty positive this happened before I left Mom's house, and I didn't notice it because it was dark. I have a call in to the nice police man, and have gone from 'shit happens' to 'Skank-ho must pay.'
I pulled mine into a parking lot after she pulled forward. Mom said "Oh shit, she's a former client of mine and she hates me because I reported her to her PO [parole officer]. Do you need me to call the cops?" I was unsure, but when the woman came out of her car and immediately began screaming at me, I said "Yes, call them." She went inside. The woman, a scrawny toothless Jerry Springer guest-looking old bitch, yelled things like 'what are you doing?' and among other things said I never honked, there was no damage to her car so she wasn't going to give me her insurance agency, and things along that vein. When I began to argue about what had happened, she got louder and just denied everything that came out of my mouth, so I quietly said 'OK, calm down, I don't want to stand here and scream about this.' I went and got a pen and paper and wrote down her license place number, which caused her to again start yelling at me 'What are you doing?' I told her I was writing down her license plate number, and asked for her name, which she gave me. She then got in her car and drove off, and I went inside.
Mom said she had called the cops. The woman's daughter (early 20s, was trying to calm her mother down in the parking lot) came over and asked for my insurance information, which I gave her, and said she would try to get her mother's information when she returned. Mom went outside and waited for the cops while I called my insurance company. I also took my pentacle necklace off... I'm not ashamed of anything, but Bryan is a small, very conservative town and I didn't see any point in stacking the deck against my favor. One cop showed up, and Mom came in and got me. He was talking to the woman (in a rare moment of pettiness, I shall refer to her as 'Skank-ho') who was filling out a form. After a minute, he came over and looked at my car, and started filling out another form. He then asked me what happened and I told him. He handed me the form, and told me to fill it out, which I did. We were both filling out the same form, which included all sorts of shit like our addresses in addition to our insurance information, and traded forms (great, she has my address). He explained that since there was no major damage and no injuries, he was not filing a report. We were to send copies of these forms to our insurance companies.
Skank-ho immediately said that she wasn't going to do anything since her car was undamaged, and she was obviously in the right since I hit her. He explained that since she was backing out of a private driveway into a public street, the burden was in her to watch for traffic. She argued with him, and re-stated that I had hit her, and she was in the right. He re-stated what he'd said, and this went back and forth a couple of times, until I finally said "I didn't hit you!" and she began arguing with me. I then just shook my head and said nothing, and she eventually went inside. The cop said "You ought to call her insurance right away. If she gives you any trouble or they won't take care of it, call me and I'll take care of it." He then gave me a card with his name, badge number, and circled a phone number. He seemed more friendly and less business-like with me then, which was nice and comforting.
I went inside and called her insurance company. They couldn't immediately find her, which makes me think that the car was insured under her daughter's name and I hope that she was on the policy. They gave me an 800 number to call and said 'tell them exactly what you told me.' I called them, and they gave me a claim number and said that they would need to have one of their guys come out and check the damage. There is a dimple right in the center of the hood at the very front that was about 4 inches long and 8 inches wide. It's right up at the grill, which had that chrome-looking plastic over it that wasn't even scratched. The mechanism for unlatching the hood seems hard to get to, and I think it was pushed back.
It drove fine, and I remained pretty calm throughout the whole ordeal. I had a Nancy Kerrigan-ish moment where I wanted to cry and go 'why me?' but I kept it all in the internal realm since I didn't want Mom to stress out. She was already trying to blame herself for it... I just hoped the Skank-ho wouldn't retaliate against Mom, who lives in the same 4-plex.
So I drove home last night without event, and pulled the car right up against the garage when I got here. My insurance company called this morning, and said that in all likelihood, Skank-ho's insurance would not pay for it since it was her word against mine, and the cop's word wouldn't matter since he was not a witness. I went out to get some lunch for me and hub, and glanced down at the damage. As I did, I noticed further damage. On the front bumper, there was a chip of paint missing, a curved black mark, and the shape of a fish (about 1.5 inches long, like a Goldfish cracker shape, not a line drawing like a Jesus fish) appears to have been gouged out of the paint. It looks like someone hit it with a bat or kicked it really hard, then cut this shit in the bumper. Since my car was pulled up against the house, I'm pretty positive this happened before I left Mom's house, and I didn't notice it because it was dark. I have a call in to the nice police man, and have gone from 'shit happens' to 'Skank-ho must pay.'
