Car crash

Pulled out of a drugstore's driveway today and proceeded down the street. Out of nowhere an old codger makes a left turn right in front of me and creams my left fender. From what I could sense, he didn't even hit the brakes right away as his car continued to push my car towards the curb! I didn't even have time to reach to hit my brakes - one second I had a clear right-of-way, the next second he was heading towards me.
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When the guy got out of the car, he didn't even apologize! He insisted that it was OK for him to turn left right in front of my oncoming car because "he had his turn signal on and he was wearing his seatbelt." WTF?!!! He actually though it was MY fault that he went left-of-center in front of my oncoming car!
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Now I'm without a car and so is he. It's a good thing that this happened at low speed (maybe 15-20mph) so nobody was seriously hurt. His car took much more damage to the front end than mine, although I lost the front fender, headlight, and the battery cracked and is leaking. But the good news is that this guy will probably not be driving again for awhile.

The police were very nice and assured me that I did nothing wrong and that I clearly had the right of way. They even offered me a ride home. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif I declined though, as I live nearby and I needed to walk to burn off some stress.
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Thanks for letting me vent.
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OUCH,
The good part is your OK. Everything else can be fixed

Sounds like he might have gotten his license here in Houston!

Glad you are ok, if a bit steamed!

Glad you're OK; I've heard that "i was signalling, so i had right of way to turn ACROSS ONCOMING traffic" line before--almost got myself creamed (standing on the curb) when car went onto the curb to avoid said driver, turning smack in front of approaching vehicle (which almost escaped being totaled, combined head on speed of roughly 60mph).

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iddibhai said:
Glad you're OK; I've heard that "i was signalling, so i had right of way to turn ACROSS ONCOMING traffic" line before--almost got myself creamed (standing on the curb) when car went onto the curb to avoid said driver, turning smack in front of approaching vehicle (which almost escaped being totaled, combined head on speed of roughly 60mph).

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Oh Geez! Glad to hear that you escaped that 2-ton projectile!

Thanks guys. You rock and stuff. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I'll second that it's a good thing nobody was hurt!

Mind if I join in the vent?
Last Saturday night some @hole chucked a rock or something at my brand new car and dented it up on the rear wheel fender. My new Volvo which I got in January happens to be my very first 'new' car I've ever owned and I kinda like it to say the least. Now it has a bunch of dents and scoured paint on the fender above the rear wheel. I went up to the police station (just 1/4 mi) up the road and reported it, but beyond going back to the scene and seeing nothing there wasn't much they could do but politely give me a report case number.

Now my brand new car is going away for a while and I'm hearing the words "Bondo" from the repair man. Already! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

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binky said:
Now my brand new car is going away for a while and I'm hearing the words "Bondo" from the repair man. Already! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

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Agh. I can relate. My very first genuinely new, factory-fresh car was such an amazing thing when I got it. Nice color, gorgeous velour seats, big fuel-injected engine, tight steering package for quick manuvering. I loved it. Then a few months into my ownership, some dirtbag tried to break into it with a coathanger and wrecked some of the trim around the driver's side window. It was only a blemish and didn't affect the operation of the car, but I kept looking at that first "spoilage" over and over again, my perfect new car defrocked by some low-life. ^$@!*
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my grandpa had to side swipe some one before he quit driving.

I am glad you were not hurt

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markdi said:
my grandpa had to side swipe some one before he quit driving.

I am glad you were not hurt

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Thank you, Markdi.

I hope that man has to re-take a drivers test. I think that everyone should be re-tested beyond a certain age. Piloting a 2-ton steel missle is a serious responsibility and people should have to periodically prove their fitness to do so. Many lives could be saved by keeping unsafe drivers off the road.

there was something on the news not too long ago about a series of tests older drivers are going to have to take it takes from 5 to 7 hours and costs 400 bucks
so they are looking to solve the problem.

Well that's totally insane that the guy thinks it's your fault. Luckily the police are on your side though. Glad your okay.

PhotonWrangler -

I wonder how the law/insurance sits on this issue: If you are now without a ride and you need to rent a car, can you recoup the cost?

As far as the event goes, I think I'm a little pissed off that the offensive driver didn't have the wearwithal to find the brakes but continued to push through you. This could have caused a more serious secondary collision.

Glad you're OK.

But what car got wrecked? I'm looking for make/model/year here!

Our 'new' car is lightly used, 30k miles and 3 years old. My dad got backed into while waiting for me to come out of work. Pretty funny, I come out of work and think to myself "What is he doing? Why do I have to have the dad who sees fit to crawl around on the ground with a flashlight in my work parking lot?"

The only damage that was done is that the Saab left a HUGE black mark on the guys shiny Ford Exploder bumper. Hit right under the headlight on the drivers side. My dad was insisting he scratched the headlamp (He didn't). There are some scratches on the bumper/fender down by the ground because it's plastic and it's 30,000 miles. My dad is like "Where'd these come from" I was like "Dad, those were always there."

Just don't go through the car-wash with a power antenna up. My sister did that to her Volvo, and then my dad did it again (To her volvo) about 6 months later. I'm thinking of just ordering 4 or 5 of the antenna masts to save on shipping /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

wow I missed the fact that it was a brand new car
I would be pissed.
heck I highly maintain my old car and
I am sure no one would give me any thing for it if some one hit me and it was totaled

almost the same thing almost happened to me a few months ago after picking my daughter up from school. I was in the left hand lane on a 3 lane road. lady makes a right turn out of a store and slides across not 1, not 2 but all 3 lanes and tries to take my front end off. Luckily I was able to see her coming and recognized the blue hair and was able to slam on the breaks (and no truck in the rearview to have hit me in the process) I was pissed too even though I wasn't damaged.

we all know that the real reason that you didn't want the police officer to drive you home was that you didn't want to explain to your family and neighbors why you were getting a ride home from the police /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

glad you weren't hurt! There is no justice on the road.

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James S said:
almost the same thing almost happened to me a few months ago after picking my daughter up from school. I was in the left hand lane on a 3 lane road. lady makes a right turn out of a store and slides across not 1, not 2 but all 3 lanes and tries to take my front end off. Luckily I was able to see her coming and recognized the blue hair and was able to slam on the breaks (and no truck in the rearview to have hit me in the process) I was pissed too even though I wasn't damaged.

we all know that the real reason that you didn't want the police officer to drive you home was that you didn't want to explain to your family and neighbors why you were getting a ride home from the police /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif


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Hahaha! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

Lucky for you that you saw that accident coming and had a chance to take evasive action! Like you, I'm always looking in the rear view mirror before I slam on my brakes also, especially on the freeway. I'd hate to avoid a collision in front of me, only to get rear-ended in the process!
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Icebreak said:
I wonder how the law/insurance sits on this issue: If you are now without a ride and you need to rent a car, can you recoup the cost?

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I'm pretty sure that I can. We made a call to one of those insurance-rental places today and we've got some temporary wheels lined up. I'd forgotten that we have such a place not too far from here.

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As far as the event goes, I think I'm a little pissed off that the offensive driver didn't have the wearwithal to find the brakes but continued to push through you. This could have caused a more serious secondary collision.


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Yep. Apparently this guy's reaction time is REALLY slow. He told the police that I was "barelling" down the road, when in fact I'd just pulled out of a driveway onto the street and I hadn't even reached 20mph yet, and my old junker car is a 4-cylinder. I can't do "barelling." /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hahaha.gif

Fortunately when we picked out this car a long time ago (an Olds wagon), we checked with Consumer Reports first and found that this particular A-frame style of cardid particularly well in the crash tests. That was a major factor in choosing it, and yesterday it paid off.

Saaby, it was an Olds wagon from way back in the last millenium. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif Don't laugh, it'a paid for... there's a picture of it under this - ahem - sign . Scroll down just a little bit.

So you got bumped by a Ford Extinction? Lucky for you that it was in a parking lot and not on the freeway! I hear you about looking at the scars and feeling pi**ed about it. Did the other guy stop or did he just take off?

He stopped, didn't hurt my car--just left a HUGE 'kiss of Saab' black scuff on his chrome bumper.

I'm not laughing, we have a Olds sedan from the last century in the household. 160,000+ miles strong on the original engine that acts like it has about 140,000 fewer miles on it. If only the seats were the same /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

This kind of crash can cost lots of nerves. Around here, elderly people (above 70) have to visit a medic for basic tests to evaluate if they are still able to drive safely. And there is talk about regular driving tests.