# Who sideswiped whom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sideswiped-whom/672530 "2013-10-29T05:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sideswiped-whom/672530/1 "2013-10-29T05:34:47Z")
A car is parked in a parking lot. Another car sideswipes it. Both cars have horizontal scrapes, but one car has a longer scrape. Can it be ascertained which car was parked and which was moving? (And yes, it’s possible that the moving car was in reverse.) ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sideswiped-whom/672530/2 "2013-10-29T07:50:59Z")
When the swiper hits the victim’s corner with his broadside, it’s easy to tell who side-swept who. If both get scratches on their broadsides with reasonably equal scratch lengths: 1. The swiper usually has a scratch that’s big and messy at the front, diminishing towards the rear. 2. The victim would have it the other way round. A messy initial impact point, diminishing towards his front. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sideswiped-whom/672530/3 "2013-10-29T09:50:26Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > When the swiper hits the victim’s corner with his broadside, it’s easy to tell who side-swept who. If both get scratches on their broadsides with reasonably equal scratch lengths: > > 1. The swiper usually has a scratch that’s big and messy at the front, diminishing towards the rear. > 2. The victim would have it the other way round. A messy initial impact point, diminishing towards his front. Or the other way round, if the swiper was reversing. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sideswiped-whom/672530/4 "2013-10-29T12:54:42Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Can it be ascertained which car was parked and which was moving? Is the parked car in the same position as it was when (or just after being) sideswiped? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sideswiped-whom/672530/5 "2013-10-29T14:50:09Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Or the other way round, if the swiper was reversing. But we don’t know whether he was reversing. > [@Xema](#): > > Is the parked car in the same position as it was when (or just after being) sideswiped? No. Not even in the same location. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sideswiped-whom/672530/6 "2013-10-29T18:12:13Z")
If the two cars were parallel when they touched, it might not be possible to tell. But in most cases I would expect the swiper to have damage on the corner of his car, while the swipee would have damage in the middle of a panel. The swipee"s damage might look like a ‘scoop’ was taken out of the side caused by the curved path of the swiper. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sideswiped-whom/672530/7 "2013-10-29T19:04:10Z")
But doesn’t that also have to do with the different shapes of the surfaces? A car with a somewhat flat shape would sustain a longer swipe, but a car with a protruding surface (like a wheel well) might be damaged mostly on the protrusion . . . regardless of which car did the swiping.