I only wish bumper covers were more durable so these issues didn’t occur. Several years ago before gas prices were through the roof, I drove a 1996 Chevy Impala Super Sport, which is a land yacht in many ways. In San Diego, we have several on-ramp/off-ramps where there is a merge in/merge out over a very short distance. This results in lots of speeding up and sudden braking for people to negotiate moving in and out of the lane over that short distance. One such retarded traffic feature is off the 163 freeway right at one of the biggest shopping malls in the city. During the holidays, I was trying to move into the lane, while someone else was moving out, that resulted in this woman rear ending me in a small car at about 10 miles/hr. I was surprised from the impact that I had only the tiniest scratch on my rear bumper cover, whereas the front of her car was absolutely smashed in. I told her not to worry about and drove off since I was late for a meeting. But I found myself wondering about the difference in construction standards between our two cars as mine really was built like a tank, and her’s clearly wasn’t.
This is wonderful: ladies and gentlemen, I think we are present at the birth of a new SDMB Contentious Issue®. Bump that, bitches!
The same thing happened to me about three or four weeks ago. It was rainy, the roads were slick, and the guy the rear-ended me did so because he didn’t stop in time. We pulled over, and I couldn’t find a scratch anywhere on the back of the Expedition. The Nissan’s damage looked really, really expensive (hood, headlight, front left quarter panel, bumper fascia, all toast). I made sure he was okay, offer to call his insurance broker, we shook hands, and I left. I think that even if I’d had damage, I’d’ve shrugged it off. Americans don’t always have the best of luck with Mexican police.
For the record: I’m not meh about it if someone bumps my bumper while we’re both driving. That is stupid, reckless, careless, etc. (Although if it’s really no more than scratched paint, I’m not going to go after you or your insurance company, either. But I’ll be annoyed.) Ditto bumping bumpers in parking lots. I only meh bumping bumpers in parallel parking type situations.
I think that driving is held to a higher standard than other accidents. Say spilling a drink on the carpet. Driving should be held to a higher standard.
If a person is not aware enough to not bump another car, it says a lot to me about what they may do at 70 miles an hour and changes lanes without looking.
Well, the OP is saying that American’s are (paraphrasing) childish and vain when it comes to minor cosmetic imperfections on their vehicles. On this I agree. Are you suggesting that it’s not vanity but rather some sort of distributed social order? Like, we’ll all agree to go apeshit over bumper scratches to keep people in line on the highway?
IIRC, the reason that bumpers went from being able to protect a car from a 10MPH collision to the 2.5MPH collisions they’re designed for now was also partially because the 10MPH bumpers, being that they were relatively solid and protruded out from the car at about shin-to-knee level, would do a beautiful number on a pedestrian’s legs if they got hit by a car, made even worse by the physics of hitting a top-heavy object at a low-level joint (ie: The person’s legs break AND their head slams forcibly into the hood of the car. Helluva bump.)
And yeah, cars are friggen expensive. I take care not to damage other peoples cars, and I expect them to do the same for me when possible. And I’ve also shrugged off minor collisions when it appeared that no serious damage was done.
What I’ve noticed on some vehicles (particularly trucks and such) is a sort of “Side bumper”, basically designed to protect against shopping carts and car doors. Somewhere I heard that it was known as “Cladding”, and was evidently a style trademark of Pontiac cars from the 90’s until the early 21st century (Then they got rid of the cladding. And went out of business. Let that be a lesson to you:D)
Actually, on a related note, I’ve noticed a lot of cars in Korea (most notably the taxis on base, which are surprisingly nice cars, as in far far nicer than anything I’ve ever owned) have what look like little blue foam blocks attached to the doors near the edges. I’m guessing these are basically to keep them from dinging up other peoples’ cars. They look ridiculous, but they probably serve admirably in the “Not dinging up other peoples cars when a drunk airman swings the door open on a Saturday Night” mission.
That’s an interesting take. Social order? I don’t know about that. But consider the rules about firearms. Always treat it as it is loaded. Don’t think for a minute that you can let down your vigilance.
A car is the same. Bumping other folks cars and giving them door dings tells me that either you’re a bad driver to start with, you don’t care about other folks property or you have let down your vigilance.
Don’t start thinking about your grocery list just because you’re ‘only’ going 10 mph in a parking lot. A car can be dangerous at any speed.
Yesterday -
Now someone will no doubt tell me that a door ding or bumper scratch is not the same as running over someone. And it’s not. But it is caused by the same thing. Lack of attention.
God, I feel so sorry for those folks involved.
Same here. With spaces as tight as they are in the city, it’s pretty much impossible not to occasionally bump bumpers while parallel parking. I don’t advocate using bumpers as a “guide” for when you parallel park (some people are quite cavalier about how they use bumpers while parallel parking), but if you park in the city, you are going to get bumped into. If I lost my shit every time my bumper got scratched, I would be locked away in a mental institution.
I still don’t understand this attitude. Granted, I don’t live in the city now. But I used to have to parallel park my truck every day in the city (Denver, Capital Hill). I never hit anyone and people where not hitting me. Is this an east coast thing?
My '06 car does not have any door dings in it. And no one has tapped my bumpers. The idea that it’s OK to run into other folks car might be regional.
So you want the law to protect your right to be a careless jerk?
Why is it “vanity” just because I would like to keep something I paid a lot of money for as nice as possible?
Let me turn this around on you and the OP- why should I be willing to shrug off damage to stuff I own just so you can freely be a lazy and careless fucking slob?
-
no they don’t.
-
the role of the “bumper” on modern cars has changed drastically, and the expected behavior of a car’s structure in a collision has also changed dramatically.
Setting your idiotic hyperbole aside, the reason bumper standards changed is because the standards for what cars do in a collision situation also changed. Yeah, yeah, your old '75 LandBarge would only have $100 in damage in a parking lot “fender bender,” but at an on-road collision that big chrome cow-catcher would do nothing to prevent you from having your legs crushed (or worse.) The expectation now is that the entire front and rear thirds of the car are sacrificial. You can open the door and walk out of a 40-50 mph offset head-on collision in a modern car that would have shredded you into cherry pie in a car from 25-30 years ago.
Simply put, cars are the way they are now because protecting the occupants is the primary goal. Insurance companies would rather pay out what they do to repair or replace a wrecked car because it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than paying out to try to repair a person.
Ok, it was a bit of hyperbole. But any person who believes that as a regular course of events it is fine to bump into another person’s vehicle does not belong behind the wheel.
Crowded city parking or not.
Ummmm HUH?
Are you thinking maybe of the 1870s? Unless you’re talking Pinto, or one of the “new” (then) rice rocket types like a Celica, cars of the 70s weren’t all that “flimsy”.
That said, NO, bumpers shouldn’t be treated as luggage, that is with an “oh well, I bumped it just deal with it” attitude. But by the same token, I don’t think a wee scratch or bump is something to have a cow over either. (FTR, I’ve been saying that since I was 10, which was in cough1969coughcough, so I am NOT ripping off whatsisface the cartoon kid).
In my former hometown (Anchorage AK), people often slid into other vehicles at stop lights or pulling out of parking lots. Usually both parties get out and look and if there’s little to no damage, it’s usually a “Be more careful next time” moment and off they go.
If I had some nice little sports car instead of a big already beat up, 4by, I’d probably have a different attitude about it though. I’ve got a towing package, so there are big old hooks of some sort on my front bumper and a heeeyuge ugly looking tow hitch receptacle on the back. People bumping me, are going to be MUCH sorrier than I am. 
**puly’ **and I are both Chicagoans.
It does seem to me to be more prevalent on the East Coast, but here in Chicago, it’s common enough, too. If you park on the street, you expect your bumper to be bumped at some point. Otherwise, park in a garage. It’s just a car, not an extension of your body.
My attitude is, of course, don’t bump the other person’s car. Don’t go into a parallel parking situation with the strategy of bumping bumpers back and forth to fit in (I’ve known people who consider this a legitimate way of parking.) That said, if I see somebody tap my bumper in such a situation, I’m not going to fucking care. It happens, and there’s no reason to get up in arms about it.
sure they were. Torsional rigidity was poor, there was no concept of a passenger “safety cage,” if it was body-on-frame the frame itself might have appeared stout, but rarely was in practice; any moderate collision would likely cause the frame to buckle.
Yeah, I guess it happens. And I would not let it ruin my day. Or the other persons. It just seems that in this thread at least, people are being very casual about it.
Do people really use their bumpers as a guide? I wonder what rental car companies think about this. Is it OK to scratch up a rental car because you where in the city?
not just with regard to cars, but I’ve known too many people whose attitude has been “it doesn’t matter what I mess up as long as someone else has to clean up after me.”
I live (for now) in NJ. I walked out to the car one morning and saw white, blue, and green paint all along the driver side of my car, with a DPW truck with those same colors about 20 yards away (and matching damage). The friendly police officer directing traffic for the DPW folks, however, surmised that “nah, they wouldn’t hit your car. I’ve been here all morning.”
Reasons to move out of this fucking state… fortunately, repairs only cost me $2000 (plus the parking ticket the cop wrote me for obstructing a DPW vehicle whilst legally parked). I swear, I’m gonna’ turn Amish…
No, it’s not the same.
Slapping your child or punching your wife would actually be far more enjoyable.