So in a Halifax grocery store parking lot today, my family and I witnessed one of the biggest acts of stupidity, where blame can be split 50/50. I turned my car into an aisle in the lot and had to stop right away to let a van back into a parking spot. As she was backing up, she had to stop to let a man walk behind her vehicle. He passed right behind her van, which was angled in toward the spot and had reverse lights on, and he went to his car which was parked facing nose-in to the spot next to where the van was backing into. Here’s the ridiculous part: the man opens his car door, gets partially in and then back out, leaves his car door open and then walks around to the other side of his car. The lady backing her van didn’t seem to notice he’d left his car door open and continued backing into the spot and stopped just after touching his car door. He came tearing around the side of his car gesturing and yelling.
WHY would you leave your car door open and leave it unattended when it’s obvious someone next to you is trying to back in? He had to walk right behind this woman’s van to get to his car and he MUST have noticed she was backing in. Furthermore, how did she not notice that he didn’t fully get in and close his door before she began backing in? I can’t imagine taking my foot off the brake before I checked to make sure there was nothing/nobody in harm’s way.
—Parking Lot is 50/50 liability
This article appears in Dec 31, 2009 – Jan 6, 2010.
i think he wins the dumbassery prize, but the lady is foolish too.
que?
yeah, this doesn’t surprise me one bit.
That’s just what you get when you encounter interaction with an inconsiderate retard and a non-observant moron.
Grocery store parking lots get these people all the time… cause we all gotta buy food.
While most parking lot accidents are 50/50 when it comes to blaming a driver, a backing accident involving a parked vehicle without a driver in the seat means the one backing is 100% in the wrong. She failed to maintain control of her vehicle and obviously doesn’t know how to use her mirrors.
She should be thankful she only hit a door instead of backing over a kid.
Exactly true VOR. But because parking lots are considered private property police are unable to lay charges, unless a fatality occurs. That was my experience when a driver reversed their vehicle into my mine.
Myself & Oceanlady don’t often agree, but in a parking lot in Dartmouth a couple of years ago, I was involved in an incident where I was hit while parked, with my truck shut off by someone backing up & it was a 50/50 repair bill. No one was hurt, it was minor & the policeman who showed up said there wasn’t anything he could do. Private property, no one was doing anything wrong (no drinking or speeding etc) we both had our paperwork in order…his advise was talk to your insurance companies & have a nice day.
This is the reason I park as far away from the store as I can. Statistically speaking the farther away you park your vehicle the less likely you are to have your vehicle damaged by morons. The closer you get to the store, the lazier the drivers are. To me it’s well worth the extra 30 seconds of walking time in order to make sure my car stays undamaged.
One time I got told off by some dude driving his truck in a parking garage. I was walking along the side of the exit since there was nowhere else to walk, and buddy starts blaring his horn at me while still about 20 feet behind me. I move over as far to the side I can and give him the “what’s your fucking problem?” look. He rolls down the window and says “get out of my bloody way, mate! I’ll fucking run you over!” (ohh yeah, this was in Australia, not here, so maybe the relevence is slightly lost. Also, since it was in Australia, technically he was driving a “ute” and he’s a “bloke”).
Anyway, I continue walking, minding my own business, he’s still blaring his horn. He then suddenly hits the gas pedal and speeds toward me before stopping about a foot behind me and still blaring his horn. “I’ll bloody well run you over next time, mate!” Now, not one of my prouder moments: I give him the finger, spit on him, and call him a stupid, worthless fucking bogan. Yeah yeah, “assault,” I know I know! Get a long-distance calling card and call the Victoria Police if you have that much of a problem with it. I thought he was going to get out of his ute and “bash” me, but he drives off like the wanker he was.
Parking lots tend to cause a lot of stress, I guess. Obviously a worldwide problem.
Does anyone find that in some parking lots the spaces and distances are smaller than others?
The retailers obviously need to cram more sheep in for the fleecing.
Happy New Year – in the Basil Calendar; 2010 is the year of the Courteous Cyclist.
yeah, I like the costco parking lot, nice and roomy with a clear buffer.
it’s like the difference between a dinky downtown street and the lanes on the highway…
more room to breathe.
Ummm I say their both dummies!!!!!
from what I witness on a regular basis, most people ( usually older drivers ) get lazy and stop actually turning around in their seat when they are backing up and use only their mirrors. This of course leaves huge blind spots and things like this will inevitably happen. Blind spots are bad in cars, worse in vans. ( the op doesn’t mention if its minivan or cargo style van )
also, the guy who leaves his door open is no rocket scientist either.
While the lady backing up was clearly negligent…that obnoxious asshole got exactly what he deserved. Instead of waiting the 5-10 seconds it would have taken for her to back in and finish parking, he has to hold up at least two cars (the lady as well as the OP) so he can open his door…leave it open (fully expecting these people to continue waiting while he did whatever the fuck he was doing). Sounds to me Karma decided to teach that guy a lesson in courtesy. I know I know it wan’t a fair lesson…but it was a lesson none the less.
I would have been pissed too if someone bashed my car…but then again I am pretty courteous and EXREMELY observant while driving or pretty much anything to do with my car.
PS. Parking lots freak me out exactly because of drivers like the bad-backing-up-lady…and the obliviously-obnoxious-door-jerk. Parking lots are FULL of these people…it’s like a minefield of stupidity.
lovinglife – you can safely back up a vehicle by using your mirrors only provided you have scanned and continue to scan the area you are backing into. I drive buses for a living (and the occasional straight truck) and many of the charter buses don’t have rear windows so you have to depend on properly adjusted mirrors and knowing what area you are backing into.
I’ve seen many people twisted in the seat trying to do an over the shoulder check and they forget to look where the front end of their car is headed, often its a close call with a pedestrian, more often its hitting the car next to them.
The keys are properly adjusted mirrors, both interior and exterior, and looking at the spot you want to back into. When in doubt, stop, get out and take a better look.
People need to learn better driving skills. I was recently behind a driver trainer’s car who had a nervous girl behind the wheel. What was she training in? A friggin SmartCar. The proper way would be to learn on a larger vehicle so you understand the importance of knowing vehicle size and visibility. She’s going to pass her license in a smart car then try to fit a Ford Explorer into the same spot where the toy car barely squeezed into. And she’ll probably be clueless as to why she can’t open her door and has peeled back the side of the car next to her.