Young drivers
Sometimes I feel sorry for kids (young boys usually more than girls). They are expected to be men but often don't have the skills yet. They seem to try to do more than what they are really able to do.
My car was hit by a teen driver on my way home from work. It was an accident at about 5mph so no one was injured. One of those stupid things. I was cruising to a stop at a sign and the kid (who had stopped at the sign on the cross street) pulled out of a cross street to enter the street I was on and simply plowed into my driver's side door. He simply didn't see me. He didn't see me because he didn't really have the experience yet to know how to look properly although he was given the responsibility to do so. He felt terrible of course - sheepish.
He called his dad who came right away and who at first acted like your typical litigation phobic New Jerseyite. Blustery and don't say anything etc to his kid. No way that anyone could pretend it wasn't the kid's fault, I don't know what he was thinking. I immediately had said I was fine and only the door panel on the car was dented.
His Dad's bluster made me annoyed and raised my hackles so that put us at an impasse and was tense for a moment. They called the police (which I found sort of silly but hey, if your first thought is that someone is going to sue you I guess you have too). The cop wrote it all up and then their day got a lot worse. They couldn't find the regiatration for the car the kid was driving. The cop didn't want to but by NJ law he had to impound the car.
In the end, they asked me to take it to a body shop, even suggested one, and said they'd pay for the repair so as not to put it on their insurance. I guess I would have started there if I were them given the new driver status of their kid. If they had, they wouldn't have ended up with a car in the impound lot. The only bright spot for them was that the cop was nice enough not to give the kid a ticket for failure to yield the right of way. He was a nice cop with a good sense of humor.
Sigh, too bad. My only downside is the time its going to take for me to get the car fixed.
My car was hit by a teen driver on my way home from work. It was an accident at about 5mph so no one was injured. One of those stupid things. I was cruising to a stop at a sign and the kid (who had stopped at the sign on the cross street) pulled out of a cross street to enter the street I was on and simply plowed into my driver's side door. He simply didn't see me. He didn't see me because he didn't really have the experience yet to know how to look properly although he was given the responsibility to do so. He felt terrible of course - sheepish.
He called his dad who came right away and who at first acted like your typical litigation phobic New Jerseyite. Blustery and don't say anything etc to his kid. No way that anyone could pretend it wasn't the kid's fault, I don't know what he was thinking. I immediately had said I was fine and only the door panel on the car was dented.
His Dad's bluster made me annoyed and raised my hackles so that put us at an impasse and was tense for a moment. They called the police (which I found sort of silly but hey, if your first thought is that someone is going to sue you I guess you have too). The cop wrote it all up and then their day got a lot worse. They couldn't find the regiatration for the car the kid was driving. The cop didn't want to but by NJ law he had to impound the car.
In the end, they asked me to take it to a body shop, even suggested one, and said they'd pay for the repair so as not to put it on their insurance. I guess I would have started there if I were them given the new driver status of their kid. If they had, they wouldn't have ended up with a car in the impound lot. The only bright spot for them was that the cop was nice enough not to give the kid a ticket for failure to yield the right of way. He was a nice cop with a good sense of humor.
Sigh, too bad. My only downside is the time its going to take for me to get the car fixed.
3 Comments:
It's sad for the kid for sure, especially having such a bonehead father. But it's true that you never know who's going to sue you for what, so, under normal circumstances, calling the police might be a good option.
Who's car was this, and where was the registration, I wonder? That's the number one thing, isn't it? Before you get in the car, you have your license and registration. Then you straighten the mirrors. :)
doggy
I think it was the parent's car and the registration was either at home or in a different car (one that was at a mechanics). Dad went home to look for it but it hadn't been found by the time I was free to leave.
I never think to look for my registration when I get in the car. Lucky for me it was safely tucked into my wallet. I hate to think what would have happened if V was driving alone in my car and there was no registration. I guess I should find a place to put it in the car but then there is the risk of theft. What do you all do about keeping the registration with the car/driver?
Well- I was keeping mine in my wallet, but then DH would use the car and complain that if he got stopped it would not be good if it were not in the car. I then started keeping it in the car, but had to get over the thought that if someone stole the car they would have the registration too.
Post a Comment
<< Home