Hit and Run fender bender!
09-10-2005, 05:28 PM
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Hit and Run fender bender!
My wife works Toyota Motor Sales and rented a Scion TC this weekend to try out for a possible lease or purchase in the future for my daughter Erin. She recently began her freshman year at Cal State Fullerton and is commuting from home.
Well this morning at about 11:30 Erin decides she is going to go out and get lunch. About a half hour later she returned home in tears saying she was in an accident. Apparently she was in the drive through lane at a Taco Bell not moving when this old woman in a white Camry smacked the right front corner of the TC. Erin said the woman looked alarmed and knew she hit my daughter but as Erin was about to put the car in reverse to back up the woman hit the gas dragging the entire right side of her own car across the right front corner of the TC and took off. So Erin not sure what to do decided to come home. Well I went outside and looked at the car and its not to bad (bumper, lip, headlight and fender will need to be replaced). Hit and run accidents really piss me off so I decided we should go to the Redondo Beach PD and report this so at least we would have it on record.
After we filed the report Erin was feeling a bit better we decided to go get lunch at the same Taco Bell. I suggested we drive up and down a couple of streets nearby and maybe we would get lucky and spot the car. Well as we passed the restaurant going into the neighborhood Erin told me she spotted a white Camry in the parking lot of the same Taco Bell! I'm thinking to myself as we're going around the block back to the restaurant, we cant be this lucky. Sure enough we pull into the parking lot an Erin tells me thats the car. I pulled into the spot next to her car a get out. The Camry is damaged from on end to the other, front and rear fenders and both doors on the right side. As I scrambled to find a pen to write down the plate number, I notice a registration taped to the inside of the windshield in the lower right corner. What luck the car was recently purchased and it has vin#, year, and something else I cannot read because it is folded in half. I try to look at an angle from the side and still can't read it, thats when I noticed the door was unlocked. So I slowly opened the door and there on the inside of the registration is her name and address! Dang are we lucky or what?
So we get back into the car to go back to the Redondo PD. I put the car in reverse and turn around to back out, and there she is complete with her walker in my way. As I wait for her to pass with my driver's window down she stops next to her car and I hear her say "who scratched my car?" Mind you she is about 80 something and has no idea the car she hit is right next to her. Obviously she is bit out of it and my confronting her would probably confuse her more and would not make the situation any better, so we slowly back out and leave.
I have to give a big
to the Redondo Beach PD officer whom only cracked a wee bit of smile on our return with new info and assured us an officer would be looking into the situation promptly.
Patrick
Well this morning at about 11:30 Erin decides she is going to go out and get lunch. About a half hour later she returned home in tears saying she was in an accident. Apparently she was in the drive through lane at a Taco Bell not moving when this old woman in a white Camry smacked the right front corner of the TC. Erin said the woman looked alarmed and knew she hit my daughter but as Erin was about to put the car in reverse to back up the woman hit the gas dragging the entire right side of her own car across the right front corner of the TC and took off. So Erin not sure what to do decided to come home. Well I went outside and looked at the car and its not to bad (bumper, lip, headlight and fender will need to be replaced). Hit and run accidents really piss me off so I decided we should go to the Redondo Beach PD and report this so at least we would have it on record.
After we filed the report Erin was feeling a bit better we decided to go get lunch at the same Taco Bell. I suggested we drive up and down a couple of streets nearby and maybe we would get lucky and spot the car. Well as we passed the restaurant going into the neighborhood Erin told me she spotted a white Camry in the parking lot of the same Taco Bell! I'm thinking to myself as we're going around the block back to the restaurant, we cant be this lucky. Sure enough we pull into the parking lot an Erin tells me thats the car. I pulled into the spot next to her car a get out. The Camry is damaged from on end to the other, front and rear fenders and both doors on the right side. As I scrambled to find a pen to write down the plate number, I notice a registration taped to the inside of the windshield in the lower right corner. What luck the car was recently purchased and it has vin#, year, and something else I cannot read because it is folded in half. I try to look at an angle from the side and still can't read it, thats when I noticed the door was unlocked. So I slowly opened the door and there on the inside of the registration is her name and address! Dang are we lucky or what?
So we get back into the car to go back to the Redondo PD. I put the car in reverse and turn around to back out, and there she is complete with her walker in my way. As I wait for her to pass with my driver's window down she stops next to her car and I hear her say "who scratched my car?" Mind you she is about 80 something and has no idea the car she hit is right next to her. Obviously she is bit out of it and my confronting her would probably confuse her more and would not make the situation any better, so we slowly back out and leave.
I have to give a big
to the Redondo Beach PD officer whom only cracked a wee bit of smile on our return with new info and assured us an officer would be looking into the situation promptly.Patrick
09-10-2005, 06:59 PM
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First off, thank god Erin wasn't hurt....
Second, you guys could not have been luckier.....
Third, now I know this might sound cold, but an 80 year old women who is still driving, has lived long enough to know right from wrong....Regardless of her being in a walker, she knew what she was doing when she ran, and desrves to be punished in accordance with the law.....
If one of us did this we would be in a world of trouble....
Patrick, I'm glad you found who did it and I'm glad that Erin is okay...
Second, you guys could not have been luckier.....
Third, now I know this might sound cold, but an 80 year old women who is still driving, has lived long enough to know right from wrong....Regardless of her being in a walker, she knew what she was doing when she ran, and desrves to be punished in accordance with the law.....
If one of us did this we would be in a world of trouble....
Patrick, I'm glad you found who did it and I'm glad that Erin is okay...
09-10-2005, 09:26 PM
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Originally Posted by DragonHeart,Sep 10 2005, 06:59 PM
Third, now I know this might sound cold, but an 80 year old women who is still driving, has lived long enough to know right from wrong....Regardless of her being in a walker, she knew what she was doing when she ran, and desrves to be punished in accordance with the law.....
If one of us did this we would be in a world of trouble....
If one of us did this we would be in a world of trouble....
Actually, I was thinking that too.....until I thought: She asked who scratched her car. She may REALLY have not realized what she did. Medication, general disorientation, etc.
If that it true she should, of course, have her license taken away for her sake and safety as well as for the safety of all other drivers....but it would be hard for me to push for solitary at Gitmo as her punishment, though I usually support that for hit and run cretins....
Glad your daughter is OK, Patrick and I'm happy that things are working out the way they are so far!
09-10-2005, 10:26 PM
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My sympathy to Erin. My son Elliot had a similar hit and run on his car a couple of weeks ago, so I know it hurts. I trust you and Karen are still coming to Borrego Springs.
09-10-2005, 10:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Nicotunes,Sep 10 2005, 10:26 PM
You cold bastard....
Actually, I was thinking that too.....until I thought: She asked who scratched her car. She may REALLY have not realized what she did. Medication, general disorientation, etc.
If that it true she should, of course, have her license taken away for her sake and safety as well as for the safety of all other drivers....but it would be hard for me to push for solitary at Gitmo as her punishment, though I usually support that for hit and run cretins....
Glad your daughter is OK, Patrick and I'm happy that things are working out the way they are so far!
Actually, I was thinking that too.....until I thought: She asked who scratched her car. She may REALLY have not realized what she did. Medication, general disorientation, etc.
If that it true she should, of course, have her license taken away for her sake and safety as well as for the safety of all other drivers....but it would be hard for me to push for solitary at Gitmo as her punishment, though I usually support that for hit and run cretins....
Glad your daughter is OK, Patrick and I'm happy that things are working out the way they are so far!
I don't know....
09-10-2005, 11:09 PM
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Let's put it this way...
If I was an old coont and smacked into someone. I'd play the senile card too.
Did you check the front of the car for pumpkins, tomatoes, crates, and the odd appendage?
If I was an old coont and smacked into someone. I'd play the senile card too.
Did you check the front of the car for pumpkins, tomatoes, crates, and the odd appendage?
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09-10-2005, 11:26 PM
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Originally Posted by rworne,Sep 11 2005, 12:09 AM
Let's put it this way...
If I was an old coont and smacked into someone. I'd play the senile card too.
Did you check the front of the car for pumpkins, tomatoes, crates, and the odd appendage?
If I was an old coont and smacked into someone. I'd play the senile card too.
Did you check the front of the car for pumpkins, tomatoes, crates, and the odd appendage?
09-11-2005, 03:51 PM
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Originally Posted by rworne,Sep 10 2005, 11:09 PM
Let's put it this way...
If I was an old coont and smacked into someone. I'd play the senile card too.
Did you check the front of the car for pumpkins, tomatoes, crates, and the odd appendage?
If I was an old coont and smacked into someone. I'd play the senile card too.
Did you check the front of the car for pumpkins, tomatoes, crates, and the odd appendage?
Seriously though, I was quite angry at first but now I feel a bit sorry for her. It must be difficult to loose that independence you've had for a very long time, but I think she should not be allowed to drive any longer. I will be checking on the situation with the Redondo PD tomorrow.
This is a very difficult situation for many old people and families to deal with. When to take driving privileges away from older people. I know we've had to deal with a similar situation in our own family, and I'm sure we will again in the future.
Thanks to everyone who was concerned, everything is fine, the car is drivable. Erin has even got over it and is driving the car all over the place before it goes back to toyota tomorrow.
