GM actually made a bumper that was spring loaded and designed to survive 2 1/2 mph impact into a wall with zero damage (1972 Olds 88/98). Not only was the bumper spring loaded but the grill would also hinge back.
Funnily enough, someone backed into me in the parking lot recently, jarring the bumper. It’s ON, but I’ve been told the little hooks/bolts are bent where I was hit.
I’m not sure what to do about it. I could demand the other driver pay to fix it, but I didn’t report it to the cops, so I don’t think I’d get very far. Plus, the car’s ten years old already, and the bumper is staying on for now… Ehh, I dunno.
Sounds like some crap drivers in this thread.
Frankly I would be embarrassed if I couldnt park a car without making contact with the cars around me. To say you should be able to nudge a bumper ignores the fact that a competent driver wouldnt need to.
If you control the wind, you’ve got bigger fish to fry than driving cars. Obviously that wasn’t something you can control, but hitting other cars while parking absolutely is.
I have never bumped a bumper parallel parking in my life, likely because I don’t attempt to wedge my car into spaces that I judge as being “just” big enough to fit. The need to parallel park is never so urgent that I can’t find a space that I can clearly see is large enough to allow me to park without damaging any vehicle. Also, I know how to physically manuever into a parallel space, take my time, and 49 times out of 50 do it three distinct motions, no rocking back and forth required at all.
My recommendation for anyone who thinks that “bumps” just happen is, indeed, to practice. A lot. Perhaps at your DMV driver test range. And to quit being so hasty that you choose your parking spaces injudiciously.
Wow. There are alot of judgmental assholes in this thread. I don’t think ANYONE in this thread has said that they NEED to bump cars when parking. I also don’t think anyone said that you SHOULD bump cars while parking. And to all the people talking about crushed bumpers and $2k worth of damage you’re arguing a strawman there. I never suggested that major damage be shrugged off. I’m talking about rubs and scratches that can and do occur in many situations, ie when someone nudges you as they are pulling into a parking spot. If a nudge “crushes” your bumper then you drive a piece of shit car and should get one that is more sturdy any way.
I’m saying that bumpers should be designed such that if someone touches it in a crowded parking lot or on an icy road that anal retentive drivers (like many in this thread) don’t scream “OMGGZZ!! MY PRECIOUS CASTLEZZ! ITS RUINED!”. Aren’t there more important things in your lives than a mark on your car? If so I sure can’t tell from this thread.
And before a mod comes and slings a turd my way for calling people assholes take a look at the venomous replies that have come before this one.
I totally park next to you, but for two reasons.
I don’t mind walking a little farther to get to the door, so I take the first decent spot I see.
And
I like screwing with people sometimes.
well, your OP basically said you want the law to protect your right to be careless. What did you expect?
One of my cars is a Neon*. about a year after I got it, I was in the right lane of a road waiting to make a right turn, behind some dimp in a Chevy Astro. The light was red, he jumped forward a bit to make a turn, realized he couldn’t make it, so threw his car in reverse and backed right into me. Luckily his (chrome steel) bumper was right in line with the actual bumper on my car, so the only thing that happened to my car was a 1/2" x 2" scuff on the fascia. I didn’t bother to pursue it because fuck it, it was barely visible after a bit of polish.
but that’s not the problem. The problem was that this idiot threw his truck in reverse and hit the gas without making any effort to see if anything was behind him. If you’re “bumping” or “nudging” cars regardless whether damage results, then you aren’t in proper control of your vehicle and you are an unsafe driver. That’s why you can still be cited if there’s no damage even if in reality the average cop isn’t going to want to waste his time on it. and now you posit that you should have legal protection for stuff like that? Well F that S.
- laugh if you want, it’s actually been a damn reliable car for 131,000 miles so far. And it’s an SRT so it’s a blast to drive…
[quote=“tumbleddown, post:64, topic:555565”]
The parking situation sucks in Chicago. I regularly parked three or four or five blocks away from home when I lived there in the late '90s. (And then didn’t drive for weeks at a time because who knew if I’d be able to find a spot when I got home? And then got parking tickets for not moving my car for street cleaning.) When it’s 9:00pm in January in Chicago and you’re already three blocks away from home, you’re going to squeeze your car into a space that’s only a few inches longer than your car if that’s the space that’s available. Sometimes, you bump bumpers in that sort of situation.
I think parking in DC is not as bad, but I’d still expect the occasional bumper bump. I’ll admit that I got a bit anxious when I saw an enormous SUV giving a little bumper nudge to my shiny new Mini Cooper the other day, but that was mostly due to the relative heights of the bumpers, not the bumper nudge itself.
Venomous? At worst, they have been called careless jerks. Pretty accurate.
You think it’s too much to ask to not have people hit your car? You think THOSE people are assholes? Allow me my own Wow.
Satisfy my curiosity, how many cars do you hit in say an average year?
While I wouldn’t mandate legislation akin to the car I linked to I would personally consider the old school concept of bumpers to be an improvement. I like the idea of a spring loaded, rubber lined bumper that will take a little abuse without destroying the look of the car. All the cars today have a painted financial landmine of a bumper waiting to blow our wallets to hell at the slightest touch.
Looking at my bumpers there are 6 different colors of paint and I didn’t do any of them. It would have been nice if a rubber lined bumper had hit my rubber lined bumper. You use to be able to throw some tire dressing on the rubber strip and make it all pretty again.
That shit has happened to me three times in the last few years. None of them even acknowledged that they’d hit my car. One took off as soon as it happened, and another kept trying to back up before giving me a chance to get the hell out of her way. All took place at the exits of parking lots.
I hate driving in this city.
Yes, I completely agree that you are.
Ooo burn. :rolleyes:
One sec, let me climb up on this pedestal with you.
<grunt>
Ok. I’ve lived in two cities where I’ve had to parallel park on a daily basis. I regularly get compliments from passengers on the speed/agility with which I parallel park. My coworkers sometimes used to watch me from their desks as I deftly squeezed into spots that they didn’t think I could fit into. I’m something of a legend. I’m in my early 30s, I have several years of performance driving under my belt (like, on racetracks), I grew up playing video games and my spacial awareness is out-fucking-standing. I take my driving extremely seriously, and aside from the aforementioned door ding I’ve never knowingly bumped and/or damaged another human being’s vehicle.
< whew. my e-ego is raging right now. gotta settle down. … ok >
And the thing is, I still agree with the OP. I don’t expect that everyone else can possibly be as awesome as I am, and the reality of life is that if people aren’t as awesome as me, bumpers will get bumped. I’ve come to terms with it, and consequently I don’t care what happens to my bumpers. Maybe legislation is a bit extreme, but if I could snap my fingers and make the world the way steronz wants it to be, carmakers would all sell utilitarian bumpers and people wouldn’t care what happened to them. I just can’t see myself ever wanting to ruin somebody’s day just because they accidentally scratched my bumper.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so harsh and to offend. (but what a great comeback!)
When I first read this I thought you were saying that it is perfectly fine to hit my car and cause damage… because after all that part of my car is called the “hit me and cause damage that I will have to pay for to repair, but since that is the name of that part I can’t possibly be mad part.” Then I saw your later post and realized that you were just referring to lesser mortals who don’t have a full office of people watching in amazement at the parking skills you possess.
So, even though you realized that for you it is something that should be practiced and learned so as to not cause damage to other cars… it isn’t reasonable that others should do the same.
Makes perfect sense io me.
Sorry, but this time I really do apologize. I’m not sure why I thought Sternoz’s post was from Cubsfan,
I would just like to say that this is always a bullshit irrelevant argument to make.
There’s ALWAYS something more important. I work customer service in a company that primarily fixes stuff other people break. Do you think I’ve got more important things to do than take phone calls from people whose toilets get backed up? I think so. I’d say paying off my credit card debt, or making arrangements so I can travel home to be with my wife in six months, or making the world safe for democracy might be more important than someone’s clogged toilet.
Does that mean I’m going to blow them off and ignore them? No, cause that needs to be taken care of too. There’s always something MORE important, but that doesn’t mean the LESS important things necessarily have to be omitted.
I mean, for goodness sake, it’s a freaking online discussion, which even YOU seem to have nothing more important to do than take part in, as evidenced by your very presence here. By your own logic, you wouldn’t be arguing with us if, say, you needed to take care of your family, or periodically drink water in order to stave off the constant threat of dehydration, or freaking breathing to maintain your body’s supply of life-giving oxygen, or any other number of things more important than an online argument.
So yes, we do have many more important things to do. Arguing on the internet is what we do to unwind. 
I don’t think we should all lose our shit when our bumpers are dinged, but to think that that’s a normal thing is just weird. I don’t even live in a large city but last time I had to parallel park, after a couple of years, I executed it perfectly, without a problem. I think part of the problem is people who always have to back their big honkin’ trucks and such into a spot; they don’t know how to do it well, they never park straight, and invariably I bet they scratch people.
Of course all of this is just reminding me again why I don’t live in a large city.
I drive a big truck, and I never bang anybody’s bumper while parallel parking, or at any other time. I’m also careful not to let the edge of my doors touch anybody’s vehicles in perpendicular parking lots.
The problem is indeed people who aren’t able to control their vehicles, but many of those people drive small and medium-sized cars, too.