Our Rear Ends Collided On The Parking Lot, Then What?

Our Rear Ends Collided On The Parking Lot, Then What?

Oct 21, 2011
4 Comments
She came charging from her car, as I briefly looked at my left side mirror. I came out, walked towards her and of course I started to appologize. She was shocked, shaken and angry.Oh my new car, I just got that car‘ – she kept lamenting.

My Rear End, The Car Of Course


I offered to pay for the damage. I hit her, I backed my car to her. I was definitely at fault and I felt guilty. First thing first I checked Matthew on the back. He was fine, mesmerized in his chocolate Kinder bar and enjoying it at fullest.

I stopped her from talking and asked her if she, not the car, if she was okay. ‘You look very shaken up‘, I stated. ‘I just got this car‘ – she replied. I kept being sorry and at some point I said something stupid, ‘I looked at my son, sorry‘.

As she continued to be shaken up, I stopped her and I looked at the damage. It was a chip there and there and a cat scratch, or two. ‘Oh that can be fixed, probably around 250 or 300 dollars‘ – I said. I asked her again, ‘are you okay, for sure?‘, she replied ‘Yes, just the noise‘, and then kept going again about the car and ‘Where did you come from?‘ – she asked. ‘What do you mean? From there‘ – I showed her the parking spot on the opposite side.

Everything would have been fine but then as she calmed down and more facts surfaced, things started to be different among us. Let me go back.

That day we were shopping at the Superstore. We came out the store, loaded groceries on the back and then pushed the cart to the cart booth. We came back to the car, Matthew tagging along. He crawled on the back, I strapped him and inspected his seat belt.

We always take the time to ensure he is well secured. I kissed him, gave him Kinder and came out. On the parking lot there was nearly no body. No cars parked beside me. On the opposite side I noted one older red car on the right side just beside the shopping cart booth. Further, there was a car but I did not pay attention. The car was far enough to clear the turn.

I backed out the parking spot turning my wheel clockwise. Kept backing until I was almost straight. As I was almost ready to switch the gears, suddenly it felt like I touched something. I really did not feel that much of an impact.

I looked back and I saw a roof of another car and the rest was on the left side. ‘Oh crap I hit something‘ – I said it to myself. In the process of backing out the parking spot, I did look at Matthew in the peripheral vision to ensure he was okay. I guess that is why I said ‘I looked at my son‘, and when you are in shock you do sometimes say stupid things, and later it fired back at me too.

The rest you already know what happened.

When finally she calmed down she asked what should we do. Should we call the police? Who’s fault this is? I said ‘no, no we cannot call police for that‘, because damage was under $750, and it was. They wouldn’t come. I am sure police has worse cases to deal with. I really didn’t know what to do, so I told her lets think about it. We exchanged the phone numbers and license plates only, and I was still under assumption that it was all my fault.

Then the turning point.

She asked, but who is at fault? ‘We both were backing out‘. This is when I finally woke up. I looked around me and yes I never drove into the opposite parking spaces as I assumed. I looked at her car, she was about 2-3 feet out the parking spot. She was backing out too.

I looked at her and said ‘I guess we are both at fault‘. Not a single time through out the conversation I said to her that it was her fault only. I may have said you collided to me, but never that it was her fault. I was definitely backing out and no doubt still moving. But I had no witness to proof that she was moving too, only that her damage had drag marks. I collided straight back so my damage would have been a dent in her bumper. I said lets think about it. She started to point fingers ‘I think it is your fault. I ‘think’ I was stopped and you hit me and you said you were looking at your son‘ – she stated.

I ignored her statements. I finally decided to look at my bumper. I had a dirt scratch right in the middle. I started to clean. ‘I don’t think I did this‘, she pointed. ‘Did what?‘ – I asked. ‘This dent‘. ‘Oh I am not cleaning this dent, it was there, it’s this here‘ – I said.

I said to her if we both were backing out then we are both at fault. I also told her, if I fix your car who will fix my car then. ‘It is your fault, you hit me, I ‘think’ that I was not moving‘ – she started to stick to her story.

Well let’s think about it, I have to go‘ – I wasn’t ready to take a blame for something I did not do, and plus I started to be annoyed of her accusations. I left home to dig out more information how should we proceed this. As I was driving home I thought we may call or go to police collision centre and ask for the opinion to resolve. Matthew on the back asked ‘Mommy you were talking to your friend?‘. ‘No Matthew, I hit her, how could she be my friend?‘ – I replied.

I got home, I made notes and sketch, and I called her and again I asked her if she was okay. I said that may be we should get professional opinion. ‘Like who?‘ – she asked. ‘I said ‘police’. ‘Okay lets go‘ – she replied defensively. I told her to calm down and lets resolve this professionally.

So I said ‘after all you were backing out and you hit me too‘. ‘I hit you‘ – she replied angry. ‘Well I was already out the parking lot and almost straight to drive away, and then you came out in my blind spot. How can you not possibly be moving if you were about two feet out the parking spot?‘. I told her I want to resolve this fairly. She said she will talk to her husband and call me back. I hung up the phone. This all happened approximately between 12:45 pm and 1:15 pm.

Dinner passed. No call from her. Evening snack. No call from her.

I called York Region Police collision center next morning. Listening to the nature of the collision lady on the phone told me to call my insurance company. So I called and they advised me that I complete the loss report. My damage was nearly invisible, so I told them that I will not be claiming damages. The loss report was for record only. They told me to collect the other individuals information and call them back. If I did not, they said they will call me back. She explained for my sake I should file the report. You never know what other person may do. She was right.

Morning breakfast passed. No call from her.

I finally called her around lunch and I asked her what she decided. She told me that she was waiting for her insurance adjuster to come and asses the damage. So much for communicating and calling my back I thought. I said that is fair. I will do the same just my insurance needed more of your personal information. She said ‘but you have to give me yours‘. Sure, I had no issue with that. But then she said she will call me back.

In couple of minutes she called back and further declined to give the information. I said during the accident by law you have to give me the information. Her reply was ‘then you should have collected at the time of the accident‘. Fair enough. She gave me information of her insurance expert though.

Things got little up tight. Out of no where she said ‘you hit me, and you said you were talking to your son, and now you changing your story‘. I never changed the story, she did, especially when she changed from ‘looked at’ to ‘talking to’ Matthew. I asked her, ‘did you even look inside to see how old was he?‘, I stated with anger.

For the record, during the accident she never even asked if I was okay or my son. All she could care was her ‘brand new car’ and was on the mission to put all blame on me.

I never changed my story, she did. I only changed my mind. I wasn’t going to take the 100% fault for this collision when I recognized her objective.

You go and talk to your expert and I will talk to mine‘ – I hung up the phone angry.

I never called her insurance expert. I called my insurance company to file the collision report. Next day they called back and closed the file. They said that they called the other person and she is fine. Because we both were backing out it was 50-50% fault.

I was right and I felt better. My insurance rate will probably increase. Hers too. She will get her bum-per fixed still paying 50% of her deductible.

Both sides happy. Lesson learned.

Hopefully there will be no next time, but next time I will be more smart about it. It isn’t that easy to deal with someone who only cares about their car. Only mature people know what to value and material things are not one of them.

About the Author

Anna Lozyk Romeo

I am living in Aurora and this is my photo journal blog. A picture says 1000 words - but not always, so I write. You don't have to travel 1000 miles to find a treasure - all I have to do is zoom through my lens and I will find it for you here in Aurora.

Comments:

  1. I’m glad you and Matthew are okay!

    i don’t think I’ve had an accident with another person. I know the rule is, don’t discuss anything, don’t talk about what happened, just get the person’s license plate and insurance information. If you talk more than that, you get in an argument, just like what happened to you.

  2. That’s too bad, Anna. The hassle of dealing with people sometimes is worse than the original problem. Glad it’s not dragging on.

  3. Thanks Marvin.
    Lesson learned.
    Anna :)

  4. Thanks James.
    I am glad to that it does not drag on.
    Dealing with insurance, as much as we don’t want to for small things like that, is the best route to go.
    Anna :)