I went to the supermarket last Monday. The parking lot has the usual angled parking spaces. I parked the car, went into the store and did my shopping. While I was shopping, I became aware that my blood sugar was dropping (I’m diabetic). I usually carry glucose tablets with me, but I was out. (I should have thought to buy a candy bar, but didn’t.) So I hurried to the checkout, paid for my stuff and hurried out to the car. As I was loading the trunk, I suddenly realized that the maroon car parked to my left was parked all the way against my car. They were touching around the area of my left front wheel well and the other car’s side door. To nobody in particular, I yelled something like “Oh shit, look how this idiot parked!” The only other person in the parking lot at the time was the guy whose job it is to retrieve shopping carts. He looked in my direction, but couldn’t actually see whether the cars touched, because he was in the next lane, and there were cars parked between him and my car.
I was very concerned about my low blood sugar, and needed to get home while I could still drive. So I got into the car through the passenger side, started up and shifted into reverse. As a started to back out, there was a scraping sound as my car disengaged from the other one, and the other car sort of bounced a little. The guy in the other lane saw all this. I noticed that there was an approximately nine-inch scrape on the other car’s door, but the only thing on my mind was getting home and getting my blood sugar back up.
So I got home, ate something, and lay down while the food took effect. I fell asleep for a while, until I was awakened by someone loudly knocking on my back door and ringing the bell. It turned out to be a police officer. He started asking me questions about the fact that I had hit a car and left the scene of the accident. He told me a witness had gotten my plate number, and there was maroon paint on the side of my car. So I explained to him exactly what happened. He said the witness claimed the cars were not touching, and I deliberately hit the other car while backing up. He gave me a summons to appear in court next Thursday. The official offense is “improper backing.”
He also gave me the name and number of the woman whose car I “hit.” So I called her. She sounded like an elderly woman who was polite at first, until I started describing how she had parked. Then she went ballistic. She became extremely angry and defensive, and wouldn’t listen to a word I said. She mentioned something about “you white boys think you’re smarter than anyone else.” (Apparently she’s black). I don’t believe she was lying about the way she had parked; I think she just didn’t notice. I remember how my mother used to drive and park when she still drove. At any rate, the conversation got to the point where we both pretty much hung up on each other.
I then got a call from her insurance agent, who listened to, and recorded, my side of the story. I wound up talking with him three times.
Now. Here’s a little twist on this entire story: My mother passed away last year, and the car I’ve been driving was hers, and the attorney hasn’t transferred the title to me yet. So I called the insurance company, only to be told that the last premium wasn’t paid, so the policy expired in November. And of course, I can’t get new insurance till the title is in my name. So what this means is that I’m driving an uninsured car that I don’t even own.
And now the woman’s insurance agent is claiming there’s another witness saying that I hit her car.
So I’m totally screwed. Two witnesses are claiming I deliberately hit this woman’s car, then left the scene, driving someone else’s uninsured car. I know what the truth is, but I have no witnesses and no evidence. And it doesn’t look good that I left the scene. I’m having nightmares of showing up in court next week, getting fined more money than I have, and winding up either in some Turkish prison or a chain gang in Mississippi. So if you guys never hear from me after the 28th, please send someone to take care of my cat. He may not still be alive by the time I get home.