I’m glad someone asked what a Shmoo was. I was beginning to think I was the only person alive without a clue.
I guess she means a scratch or dent, in this context.
I don’t think she is talking about the little white blob.
If this guy just up and took off, my money is on one of two things:
a) He’s uninsured
b) He’s got warrants
He obviously didn’t want to deal with the cops; and if he was so sure you were at fault, I doubt it was over the little bang-up you two had.
FWIW, I’m on your side on this one Alice. Totally his fault.
Well pretty much all you need to get a faiure to maintain a single lane of traffic ticket is to not be fully in your lane when the accident occurred. Perhaps a better citation would be changing lanes when unsafe. I understand the lanes were merging, but you’re suposed to yeild to the vehicles in the non-merging lane. Yeah, you were going slow and inching over, but it was unsafe because it ended up in an accident. He’d get failure to control speed because it’s easier to prove in court. Obviously, if he could control the velocity of his vehicle, then he would’ve never hit your car, he would’ve just stopped. He could be going 100mph and if he did’nt hit you, then he controlled his speed. He could be going 1mph and, if he hit you, then he failed to control his speed. Yeah, the guy was a jerk, and if you asked me as a person what i thought, I’d say he was at fault, but according to the law, you guys are both at fault. And, unfortunately, there’s no law against being a jerk.
See, I hate doing accident investigations because you always gotta be the bad guy to someone.
Nope - when merging, both lanes have equal right of way.
Also, I wasn’t inching. Traffic was stopped for at least the duration of a traffic light, with me 3/4 in front of him. I suppose he could be accused of failing to control his speed, because he did hit me, however, I think the actual charge would be “Undue Care and Attention” - it generally covers prickishness, as well as a few other things.
Anyhow - seeing as Ginger used to be an insurance adjuster, right here in Alberta, and she seems to think ass-hat was to blame, I’m inclined to agree with her. Now I just have to decide if I give a crap enough to call anybody about this. I know some people have suggested no licence, or outstanding warrants, however, the route I was on is also the route to the main hospital in town, and the man was elderly. My first thought was that he was going to visit his sick wife in the hospital, and that’s why he was so upset. The damage to either car certainly didn’t seem like enough to warant the screaming, swearing and yelling. I dunno.
As to what a shmoo is. A shmoo can be defined as those items listed in, but not limited to, the following:
[ul]- a bloop of food on your shirt
- mud on your pant leg
- gook on the table
- a typographical error
- a spelling mistake
- a pimple on your face
- a small, fluffy bunny
and of course
- a big fat scratch, on your cute little red car.[/ul]
See? 