We were on Lyons View Rd, where the wealthy houses are, and a garden truck backs into the road with the aid of a home owner motioning to stop traffic. I’m not going to drive through that large truck nor race around the back of it so I slow to a stop only to heard the dreaded squeal of tires. Some college girl decides she wants to park in the back of our van instead of the parking garage at the mall where she was heading. So much for the joyously good mood I was in. When I heard the tires I released the brake and accelerated a little so the impact was minor. I’m sure we will be sore and I am worried about the children but we turned down the ambulance and have decided not to see the doctors. The bumper hangs a little lower on the back right corner but it is almost unnoticeable. I heard the squeal. I just couldn’t find her in the rear view mirror. Something was wrong. I should have been able to see this coming and move out of the way!
We pulled into the Cherokee Bigotry Club because state law says if no one is hurt we clear the scene. Their big parking lot made sense. I point at some damage on her car and she says, "that’s from a different one." While waiting for the police to show up, a Mercedes Benz backs into the driver’s door of the college girl. That’s when I started looking for the cameras because surely this was a joke! After waiting a bit, the old guy in the Benz who owns a construction company doing work at the country club lectured us about being on private property and drove off. I took a moment to give him a few lecturing words of my own before he drove away.
Dammit. Now I have to spend the next 5 years berating myself and trying to figure out what I could have done differently to prevent this!
Update: I should add that when I called non-emergency I got no answer so I had to use 911 which the automated system put me on hold.
Update: Body shop said the bumper did its job and there is no damage to repair.
Glad everyone was o.k.
I am sure the kids would have enjoyed the ambulance ride. I am shocked and surprised that no attorney was present at the private club on the hill to offer you his card. They probably have rules against ambulance chasing lawyers or because you didn’t jump in the ambulance. They simply watched from the windows inside with the a/c, keeping their cards.
Good luck to you.
We could have a party on this date every year. 😉
party? I will be there.
Cathy:
I am having another thought, I am fairly confident that this was Doug’s fault for driving on that road anyway.
See! Now Brian thinks like me!
LOL
[…] office all summer. On the way home, we had what truly was the least destructive and most comical auto accident ever. In Doug’s uncharacteristically brief explanation of the two-hour roadside theater […]
[…] We were rear ended on Thursday. The girl’s insurance company called me asking that I take the van to the Knoxville Collision Center on Lexington who assured me that there was no damage. To make sure he wasn’t just brushing me off, I went so far as to quipped, "The insurance company is paying via direct bill. Are you sure there isn’t anything you want to fix?" He explained in detail how my bumper was normal and that the car was structurally sound. "Can’t fix what’s not broken." Wow! Did we ever dodge a bullet! I feel horrible that the girl’s car got smashed in the parking lot while we waited for the police to arrive. […]
So Mr. Benz backed into the girl’s car, berated all of you for being in the parking lot, then drove off? Without talking to the police about the accident HE caused, and is presently wanted for leaving the scene of an accident? Or am I misreading the situation?
Barry – You are right up until the part about being wanted for leaving the scene of an accident. It was private property, so apparently laws don’t apply.
If you have an accident on private property and no one is hurt, you exchange contact information, insurance information and part company. The police won’t even write up an accident report if its on private property.
Sooo….in theory I could buy a clunker, drive to the mall, and play smash ’em up derby for laughs and the police just really wouldn’t care.
Ok, I got the impression there wasn’t any information exchanged – he just got mad and left.
At first that’s exactly what I thought he was going to do. He’s the president of a construction company. They did exchange info. I’m sure he’ll write her a pretty check but I bet she has to involve a lawyer.