Sloth moron of the day hit ME, and I was behind HIM.

This is un-freakin' believable. If I was in my Vette, I may have
killed the guy. Luckily I was in my Saturn SL...

Coming off the freeway, at the light, turning right, a white van is in
front of me. Light turns green we both make the turn into the same
lane. The guy is putzing along, and for some reason I didn't whip
around him... there was plenty of room to do so.

So Mr. sloth, who is about 45-50 year old white guy, FINALLY makes it
to the next light (of course we get stopped by the light because he's
slothing along). We're in the right turn lane, and I leave about 5 or
6 feet between him and me.

All of a sudden Mr. clueless ****tard throws the van in reverse... yes
REVERSE. I lay on the horn, he backs up, bashes right into me. I
couldn't go anywhere, and only had about a second to react. Thankfully
the air bag didn't go off.

I get out screaming up a storm
"What the hell are you doing?"
"I didn't see you, your car is too low".
"Didn't see me? Are you ****ing kidding me? What the **** are you
BACKING UP FOR?"
"I wanted to get behind the white line".
"Are you kidding me?"

I look over the front end and no damage occurred.

He says "Well, at least it's Friday, and we don't have to call the
cops"

Now, his front end was about 3 feet over the white line, and he was
NOWHERE near sticking out into the intersection.

Thankfully no damage was done to my car. But if I was in the Vette,
the no way the bumpers would have lined up, and he would have climed
right up the hood.

Thinking about it now, I SHOULD have called the cops. Maybe he would
have gotten a ticket for BACKING UP while on the road.

> Larry Bud:
> Thankfully no damage was done to my car. But if I was in the Vette,
> the no way the bumpers would have lined up, and he would have climed
> right up the hood.
>
> Thinking about it now, I SHOULD have called the cops. Maybe he would
> have gotten a ticket for BACKING UP while on the road.

Probablly should have demanded a report. A few years ago, I was behind a
pick-up at an intersection when he decided to back up to accomodate an
RV approaching from the right who wanted to make a left to go the
opposite direction that we were headed and backed right into me.

On the surface, it appeared that my car only had a few scuffs and a
gouge in the paint in the shape of his exhaust pipe, but I demanded a
police report anyway. Good thing: the repair bill was over $800.00US to
fix the bumper (that naturally went to the other guy's insurance)...

On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 22:05:17 -0500, necromancer > wrote:

>> Larry Bud:
>> Thankfully no damage was done to my car. But if I was in the Vette,
>> the no way the bumpers would have lined up, and he would have climed
>> right up the hood.
>>
>> Thinking about it now, I SHOULD have called the cops. Maybe he would
>> have gotten a ticket for BACKING UP while on the road.
>
>Probablly should have demanded a report.

OTOH, the other guy would likely revert to a defense that he was rear-ended,
and with backing up being such an unlikely dodge, the cops might just believe
_him_ instead of you, then you're open to a lawsuit because of his "whiplash."
Confrontation is not always the most advisable thing.

Dave Head

> A few years ago, I was behind a
>pick-up at an intersection when he decided to back up to accomodate an
>RV approaching from the right who wanted to make a left to go the
>opposite direction that we were headed and backed right into me.
>
>On the surface, it appeared that my car only had a few scuffs and a
>gouge in the paint in the shape of his exhaust pipe, but I demanded a
>police report anyway. Good thing: the repair bill was over $800.00US to
>fix the bumper (that naturally went to the other guy's insurance)...

What a moron....

"Larry Bud" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> This is un-freakin' believable. If I was in my Vette, I may have
> killed the guy. Luckily I was in my Saturn SL...
>
> Coming off the freeway, at the light, turning right, a white van is in
> front of me. Light turns green we both make the turn into the same
> lane. The guy is putzing along, and for some reason I didn't whip
> around him... there was plenty of room to do so.
>
> So Mr. sloth, who is about 45-50 year old white guy, FINALLY makes it
> to the next light (of course we get stopped by the light because he's
> slothing along). We're in the right turn lane, and I leave about 5 or
> 6 feet between him and me.
>
> All of a sudden Mr. clueless ****tard throws the van in reverse... yes
> REVERSE. I lay on the horn, he backs up, bashes right into me. I
> couldn't go anywhere, and only had about a second to react. Thankfully
> the air bag didn't go off.
>
> I get out screaming up a storm
> "What the hell are you doing?"
> "I didn't see you, your car is too low".
> "Didn't see me? Are you ****ing kidding me? What the **** are you
> BACKING UP FOR?"
> "I wanted to get behind the white line".
> "Are you kidding me?"
>
> I look over the front end and no damage occurred.
>
> He says "Well, at least it's Friday, and we don't have to call the
> cops"
>
> Now, his front end was about 3 feet over the white line, and he was
> NOWHERE near sticking out into the intersection.
>
> Thankfully no damage was done to my car. But if I was in the Vette,
> the no way the bumpers would have lined up, and he would have climed
> right up the hood.
>
> Thinking about it now, I SHOULD have called the cops. Maybe he would
> have gotten a ticket for BACKING UP while on the road.
>

"Larry Bud" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> This is un-freakin' believable. If I was in my Vette, I may have
> killed the guy. Luckily I was in my Saturn SL...
>
> Coming off the freeway, at the light, turning right, a white van is in
> front of me. Light turns green we both make the turn into the same
> lane. The guy is putzing along, and for some reason I didn't whip
> around him... there was plenty of room to do so.
>
> So Mr. sloth, who is about 45-50 year old white guy, FINALLY makes it
> to the next light (of course we get stopped by the light because he's
> slothing along). We're in the right turn lane, and I leave about 5 or
> 6 feet between him and me.
>
> All of a sudden Mr. clueless ****tard throws the van in reverse... yes
> REVERSE. I lay on the horn, he backs up, bashes right into me. I
> couldn't go anywhere, and only had about a second to react. Thankfully
> the air bag didn't go off.
>
> I get out screaming up a storm
> "What the hell are you doing?"
> "I didn't see you, your car is too low".
> "Didn't see me? Are you ****ing kidding me? What the **** are you
> BACKING UP FOR?"
> "I wanted to get behind the white line".
> "Are you kidding me?"
>
> I look over the front end and no damage occurred.
>
> He says "Well, at least it's Friday, and we don't have to call the
> cops"
>
> Now, his front end was about 3 feet over the white line, and he was
> NOWHERE near sticking out into the intersection.
>
> Thankfully no damage was done to my car. But if I was in the Vette,
> the no way the bumpers would have lined up, and he would have climed
> right up the hood.
>
> Thinking about it now, I SHOULD have called the cops. Maybe he would
> have gotten a ticket for BACKING UP while on the road.

It's a lot like how I got into the only accident I've ever been in that was
my fault...

I was a new driver, 17 years old, driving a big 1990 Ford Econoline 350 van,
pretty big... friend and I went to Jack In The Box and I started to enter
the drive thru and for whatever reason we changed our minds and decided to
go in... (this was immediately as we got about four feet into the drive
thru)...

So like a moron, I assume no one had any time to get behind me, I glance at
my mirrors and back up (not fast)... BAM! I hit a little Honda Accord.

They were nice about it, not a lot of damage but I definitely dinged their
bumper and I'm sure the damage was at least a grand, you know how that stuff
is (I never saw the bill as they filed a claim with my insurance)...

The cop told me "Yeah, they were too close to you, I should be putting that
it's *their* fault, but I have to follow the rules..." I think he was just
trying to be nice. It was my fault 100%!

I definitely learned the hard way to GOAL when driving big, poor-sightlined
vehicles like that ... ;-)

By the way, my insurance never raised my rates... go figure...

brink

> Scott en Aztlán:
> It's getting so you need to drive around with a video camera
> constantly rolling just so you can defend yourself against all the
> dishonest incompetent ****s out there on the roads.

The way things are going these days, that might not be a bad idea. Main
drawback would be if your video can be used against you if you are the
cause of an accident....

necromancer wrote:
> > Scott en Aztlán:
> > It's getting so you need to drive around with a video camera
> > constantly rolling just so you can defend yourself against all the
> > dishonest incompetent ****s out there on the roads.
>
> The way things are going these days, that might not be a bad idea. Main
> drawback would be if your video can be used against you if you are the
> cause of an accident....

If it's digital, and you're at fault, delete the file and start
recording again. If your local cops are any where near as efficient as
ours, you'll have overwritten all the old data before they arrive.

In article et>, necromancer wrote:
>> Scott en Aztlán:
>> It's getting so you need to drive around with a video camera
>> constantly rolling just so you can defend yourself against all the
>> dishonest incompetent ****s out there on the roads.
>
> The way things are going these days, that might not be a bad idea. Main
> drawback would be if your video can be used against you if you are the
> cause of an accident....

Then you don't produce the video. Nobody knows you have it but you. State
what occured honestly and let the insurance companies determine fault.

On 10 Mar 2006 16:24:29 -0800, "Larry Bud" >
wrote:

>This is un-freakin' believable. If I was in my Vette, I may have
>killed the guy. Luckily I was in my Saturn SL...
>
>Coming off the freeway, at the light, turning right, a white van is in
>front of me. Light turns green we both make the turn into the same
>lane. The guy is putzing along, and for some reason I didn't whip
>around him... there was plenty of room to do so.
>
>So Mr. sloth, who is about 45-50 year old white guy, FINALLY makes it
>to the next light (of course we get stopped by the light because he's
>slothing along). We're in the right turn lane, and I leave about 5 or
>6 feet between him and me.
>
>All of a sudden Mr. clueless ****tard throws the van in reverse... yes
>REVERSE. I lay on the horn, he backs up, bashes right into me. I
>couldn't go anywhere, and only had about a second to react. Thankfully
>the air bag didn't go off.
>
>I get out screaming up a storm
>"What the hell are you doing?"
>"I didn't see you, your car is too low".
>"Didn't see me? Are you ****ing kidding me? What the **** are you
>BACKING UP FOR?"
>"I wanted to get behind the white line".
>"Are you kidding me?"
>
>I look over the front end and no damage occurred.
>
>He says "Well, at least it's Friday, and we don't have to call the
>cops"
>
>Now, his front end was about 3 feet over the white line, and he was
>NOWHERE near sticking out into the intersection.
>
>Thankfully no damage was done to my car. But if I was in the Vette,
>the no way the bumpers would have lined up, and he would have climed
>right up the hood.
>
>Thinking about it now, I SHOULD have called the cops. Maybe he would
>have gotten a ticket for BACKING UP while on the road.


It is a big deal and you should have filed a report. I imagine your
car was in drive. If he pushed you back, even a few inches, he damaged
your transmission. You will be replacing it in short order.

On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 22:37:00 -0800, Scott en Aztlán >
wrote:

>On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 04:30:08 GMT, Dave Head > wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 22:05:17 -0500, necromancer > wrote:
>>
>>>> Larry Bud:
>>>> Thankfully no damage was done to my car. But if I was in the Vette,
>>>> the no way the bumpers would have lined up, and he would have climed
>>>> right up the hood.
>>>>
>>>> Thinking about it now, I SHOULD have called the cops. Maybe he would
>>>> have gotten a ticket for BACKING UP while on the road.
>>>
>>>Probablly should have demanded a report.
>>
>>OTOH, the other guy would likely revert to a defense that he was rear-ended,
>>and with backing up being such an unlikely dodge, the cops might just believe
>>_him_ instead of you, then you're open to a lawsuit because of his "whiplash."
>>Confrontation is not always the most advisable thing.
>
>It's getting so you need to drive around with a video camera
>constantly rolling just so you can defend yourself against all the
>dishonest incompetent ****s out there on the roads.

Yes - I wish I would have had one yesterday, in fact. Woman beside me, as I'm
following someone ahead of me in the left lane, just comes right on over - I
had to brake hard and steer left to avoid a collision.

There was _no_ way she didn't know I was there - I had the horn going, and she
just kept coming right on over. You wonder why people prefer big SUV's, but
this doesn't happen to me in my Jeep, and its a _little_ SUV. The Jeep weighs
3500 lbs. The Subaru WRX weighs 3000. And this happens _only_ when I'm driving
the Subaru.
>
>I can't remember if it was on today or yesterday, but the KTLA Morning
>News had a report of a girl who got into an accident on the freeway. A
>car in front of her spun out, crossed two lanes of traffic, and ran
>into her car. At first, the other driver tried to claim that SHE had
>hit HIM... Until she produced the video she had made (from, IIRC, a
>helmet cam) which showed the entire incident very clearly.

Neat. I've thought of rigging something like that, but where I work doesn't
appreciate cameras around the place (DOD).

Dave Head