Left a note for the guy whose truck I banged up

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Saturday was moving day. I rented a big-ass truck from U-Haul, and a bunch of friends and I proceeded to move first my roommates to their new apartment, then me to my new apartment. On the last load, I backed up too far out of the driveway and hit a truck that was parked across the street. It was my own damned fault. I had turned enough that I couldn’t see the people who were guiding me in the mirror, and I didn’t hear them yell “Stop!” until the second time.

I didn’t even know I’d hit it. I pulled the truck up, and my friend got in, and we started going.

“Whew. Close one. How close did I get?”
“You hit it.”
“What?! Why are you letting me drive away?”

So I pulled over and went back and left a note with my phone number and took a picture of the truck. Luckily, this was not a brand-new pristine truck. You could clearly tell which dents I had put in it because they were the ones that hadn’t rusted over yet. But I was still annoyed at myself and worried about having to pay for it.

Just got a call from the guy. I apologized for hitting his truck, and asked if he had seen the damage. He said that he had. I told him that I was willing to to pay for repairs, or could give him some money for the trouble (since we both knew it wasn’t really worth doing any body work on the truck).

“No, that’s fine, it’s just a work truck.”
“Oh, ok. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”

And then he hung up. So, thanks, guy whose truck I hit, for being really cool about it. I promise that the next time someone does some minor damage to my car, I’ll shrug it off and let them have a good day, too.

2

I once rear-ended a guy (shut up, you pervs) as I was heading up the off-ramp. I was driving hubby’s car, which had been having some problems with the pedals sticking; I knew about it but wasn’t as familiar with the car as he was, so I accelerated when I didn’t mean to and tapped the guy in front of me.

Oh shit. He pulled over and so did I, worried sick. We both got out and looked at his rear bumper. I’d basically knocked some of the dirt off it. “No big deal, don’t worry about it,” he rumbled, and got back in his truck and drove away. Phew!

So I share your appreciation for Nice Guys Who Drive Tough Trucks.

Many moons later, I was backing up in a dark unfamiliar alley and hit a Dumpster with our already hail-damaged van. I told Mr. S about it later, pretty much as a “By the way . . .” He cared as much as I did, which was not at all. It was just one more dent.

3

I managed to reverse into a parked car, while the owner was sitting in it. :smack: I was more apologetic than at any other time in my life, and he decided he really wasn’t that fussed, could see that the dent in the bumper was nothing, and admitted that the number plate had already got a crack in it (I actually doubted the last one!) His wife disagreed with his whole approach, quite loudly, but he told her to get back in the car :smiley:

The impact Other People can have, just by being decent. It’s the same feeling as losing your wallet, and getting it returned to you with contents intact, including cash. This has happened to me, too.

4

About a month or so ago I had the pleasure of returning a full wallet to its owner. He stood up and pumped my fist up and down very forcefully, that I would know the magnitude of his gratitude.

5

On a very windy day the door of my red car flew out of my son’s hand, opening as wide as possible and putting a decent sized scratch in the car parked next to us.

He was beside himself.

We left a note (no I didn’t implicate the 6 year old) apologizing and offering to pay for damages.

I was never contacted. If it was your door, it really was an accident and we really are sorry. Thanks for understanding.

6

Last year, MizPullin merged her Camry with a Cadillac at an intersection (her fault, she t-boned him). His car was totaled, but her Camry was still drivable. No one was hurt. When he contacted us a week later, his only question was: “What kind of car was that? Since it survived, I want one”. Everyone parted on good terms, no lawsuit. (And Toyota got a new customer).

7

Dear sir,
I am leaving this note so that the people around me will think I am giving you my phone number or something. Really, you’re screwed. Sorry bout your luck.

8

I’m not sure if I am appalled or amazed by this tactic.

a little bit of both.

9

Any chance the note, you know, blew away? :wink:

10

2 years ago I slid in my icy parking lot and dinged my neighbor’s rear bumper. No one saw it but I’m at the age where I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror if I didn’t fess up. So, I left a note with my cel phone number. He called and said not to worry, it was just a scratch.

Phew, Thanks buddy!

11

In Philly a group of my vet school classmates were studying in the winter of 88 or 89. There had been a horrible winter storm with freezing rain. We were looking out a window and viewing the intersection of Pine and South 39th which form a right angle

We watched as cars came down Pine, hit their brakes, then slid into and T-boned a car parked on South 39th. There wasn’t much traffic, but every 10 to 15 minutes we saw a car hit into that poor car. Over and over.

Nobody left a note. Nobody so much as stopped. Then again, we sat there all morning watching. :wink:

12

I would care about dents in the car, but bumpers are made to get bumped, no big deal.

13

I was sitting in downtown Christmas traffic one afternoon just after lunch. I saw what looked like a Southern lawyer walk out of the club and to his big Cadillac deVille parked perpendicular to the rear quarter panel of my 20 year old Nova. While he was walking out, I knew that he was going to back right into my car. Yes, the moment he stepped onto the sidewalk, I knew. Yup, he banged right into my car. He got out, I got out and told him not to worry about it. Like I’d notice that dent of all the others. He gave me a $20 out of gratitude. As a starving student, I had an unexpected windfall for lunch and dinner. People can be decent if you give them a chance.

14

The same thing happened to me; a day so windy that power poles were being blown over, and the wind ripped the car door out of my hand and slammed it into the car next to mine really, really hard. I tried to find the owner in the bank we were parked in front of, and when I couldn’t, I left a note under the windshield wiper.

All weekend long I was a wreck waiting to hear from them. I was sure they were waiting until Monday (this happened on a Friday) so they could call their insurance company and possibly sue me. Monday came and went, then Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. Finally, the following Friday I got an email, in very broken English saying, “I drive a Honda Element you hit on a Friday. Damage minimal, not to worry. You’re honestly person.”

:eek:

To say I was relieved would be an understatement.

I’ve also been rear-ended, and after getting out and seeing there wasn’t really any apparent damage, told the kid, “That’s what bumpers are for. Just pay more attention from now on. Have a nice day.” I thought he was going to crap his pants when we pulled over, and the look of relief on his face was priceless. I think he darn near cried. :slight_smile:

15

I prefer “Tag! You’re it!”

16

My social anxiety probably made someone very happy about 9 years ago.

My car was parked in the lot under my apartment building, the front half of it exposed to the elements and balconies. I found a small dent on the driver’s side door, just below the window. There was a note on the windshield with a phone number, and an apology for a dropped flower pot.

It was noticeable, and my beloved Toyota was otherwise pristine at the time, but I didn’t think it was worth dropping it off at a body shop for any length of time, even if it was covered. More importantly, I’m not big on phone calls. I’m sure the person wondered what kind of weirdo would just blow off the damage and continue to park in the same spot for the next two years.

17

Someone knocked off the passenger mirror on my car about two years ago. The mirror didn’t break, it just snapped off the side. He left a note offering to pay to fix it, but fuck it. Epoxy isn’t that expensive. I never bothered to call him about it, although I probably should have, just so he wasn’t sitting around wondering about it.

18

A couple of days ago I was pulling up behind someone who was trying to turn out of the parking lot of the grocery store into the street. All of a sudden he changes his mind and backs up right into my car! Since I wasn’t stopped yet and he had backed up pretty fast it made a major thumping sound. He then changed his mind again and started to drive away and make a turn into the street! My wife got angry and jumped out of my car to wave energetically at him. He came back and we both looked at our cars. What irritated me was that his immediate comment was “you don’t have any damage.” Shouldn’t I be the one to decide that? Plus I did have damage, my front license plate (a personalized plate - I make no apologies for wanting a personalized plate!) was all bent. But I didn’t think insurance would cover a personalized plate so I just let him go. But I was this close to getting his name and number, just to be a jerk, because of his attitude.

19

Many years ago I was at work on a Saturday and was out having a smoke break. While I was there a pizza delivery person rolled up. The person got out and went inside. Several minutes later she came back out. She got in her car and started backing up and continued to back up right into the front of my car.

At the time I had a beat up 1984 Pontiac Perisian. The thing was a tank. She got out and looked at her car and then at mine. I could see there was no damage to mine. It had a “real” bumper.

She proceed to ask me if I knew whose car it was and I answered that it was mine. The shock and horror on her face was comical. I told her not to worry I could see there was no damage. She was relieved and apologized. She included some comment about the car she was driving was her husbands and she was so glad she did not do any damage to it.

She got back in her car and as I was walking back inside I glanced back as she proceeded to back up right into my car for a second time. :smack:

At this point I figured this person should no be driving forwards much less backwards. I went back outside. Again my car was undamaged but she now had a small scrap on the rear of hers.

I can almost see how she missed the two ton blue tank the first time but the second? I again told her that mine was undamaged and not to worry. She again apologized and got in her car and left. I always wondered if she hit any other cars that day. As flustered as she was I think it is safe to assume she did.

20

A long time ago now, I was driving my first car (a Singer Chamois very similar to the one shown here) near where I lived, just for the fun of driving, to be honest. I was waiting to turn right into a side road. The road I was on, just in front of my position, went into an “S” bend and climbed a small hill (maybe 20’).

I saw a gap and engaged gear, when my card twitched a bit. At that moment, passing me on the inside (where I had left a gap) was a milk delivery tanker. There was no unusual knowledge needed to deduce this - it had “Milk Marketing Board” painted in large white letters on the blue storage drum.

Not wanting to get out of the car while it was in the middle of the road, I took the chance to get into the side road and pulled over. I then inspected the car.

On this particular car there was a small indicator repeater light mounted high on the front wing on each side. They protruded maybe ½" out beyond the wing. The nearside one was now missing. Inspection of the wing showed no dents had appeared; not even so much as a streak of rubber.

I looked up to see that the tanker had stopped, and the driver was making his way across to me. He could have driven off with impunity, because I hand’t caught the registration no. of the vehicle.

When he reached the car we discussed the damage - such as it was, and he agreed to send me a cheque for a whole £2 in the post. (Neither of us knew how much a repeater unit would cost).

I got the cheque a few days later - he’d made it out for £3.

The repeater unit cost £0.75 in the shop, and I managed to fit it myself. The wing needed a bit of straightening where the old one had been wrenched off, but that was about it. I tapped out the worst and just lived with it. There were always more problems with that car than a loose repeater light.

Still - the other guy could have escaped scot-free, but chose to stop and treat a penurious student type decently.