I'm a total f*ckhead
Wednesday noon was the start of some vacation for me. This morning, I got up at 9, showered, read LJ and left the house at 11 to go to the restaurant where my department at work was having our Christmas lunch and gift exchange. I got there about 5 minutes after everone else got there. We had a nice lunch and I started some shopping when I left. Also stopped by the post office to buy stamps and mail holiday cards. I got some stuff at WalMart, including a covered trash can that should keep Pandora from playing in the trash cans, and got to my car. I was backing out of my parking space, carefully looking to make sure no one from oncoming traffic would run into me.
*CRUNCH*
I forgot to look behind to the left. A woman had pulled her car out of a space behind me, had straightened up to drive away, and I backed right into her rear bumper, leaving a dent. There was just some scuffing on the corner of my bumper where it pushed into hers. I got out, saw the dent, got back in the car to pull it back into my space and get the insurance card. Meanwhile, she called 911 to report the accident. We shared info and waited for the police to come make a report. She didn't want to move her car (rightly so), so we had to direct traffic to squeeze through the space between our cars. Finally, after 20 minutes, two motorcycle cops showed up. Since it was in a parking lot (private property) instead of a city/county road, they couldn't/didn't make a report. Instead, they made sure we had traded info. She has to pick up something from the court house (not sure what, but probably something about the damage to her car). I had planned to make at least one more shopping stop, but decided just to come home.
So for the rest of the day I've been feeling like shit. This is my third minor accident in as many years. The first one was not my fault: a car decided to move into my lane of the the double-lane exit ramp, putting a long dent in the rear side door of the van and some fender damage. The other one was my fault: I misjudged how far the car ahead of me had moved into the median crossover not-quite-lane and smashed my drivers side-mirror on the back corner of her minivan, leaving a minor scratch. It was so minor, she didn't want to involve the police or exchange info. And now this. Ever since my first accident about 7 years ago, Phil has been worried about my driving. Every morning, he tells me to be careful. So now, he's probably upset with me. I'm not too happy with myself either. I'm becoming paranoid about my driving skills (or lack thereof).
*CRUNCH*
I forgot to look behind to the left. A woman had pulled her car out of a space behind me, had straightened up to drive away, and I backed right into her rear bumper, leaving a dent. There was just some scuffing on the corner of my bumper where it pushed into hers. I got out, saw the dent, got back in the car to pull it back into my space and get the insurance card. Meanwhile, she called 911 to report the accident. We shared info and waited for the police to come make a report. She didn't want to move her car (rightly so), so we had to direct traffic to squeeze through the space between our cars. Finally, after 20 minutes, two motorcycle cops showed up. Since it was in a parking lot (private property) instead of a city/county road, they couldn't/didn't make a report. Instead, they made sure we had traded info. She has to pick up something from the court house (not sure what, but probably something about the damage to her car). I had planned to make at least one more shopping stop, but decided just to come home.
So for the rest of the day I've been feeling like shit. This is my third minor accident in as many years. The first one was not my fault: a car decided to move into my lane of the the double-lane exit ramp, putting a long dent in the rear side door of the van and some fender damage. The other one was my fault: I misjudged how far the car ahead of me had moved into the median crossover not-quite-lane and smashed my drivers side-mirror on the back corner of her minivan, leaving a minor scratch. It was so minor, she didn't want to involve the police or exchange info. And now this. Ever since my first accident about 7 years ago, Phil has been worried about my driving. Every morning, he tells me to be careful. So now, he's probably upset with me. I'm not too happy with myself either. I'm becoming paranoid about my driving skills (or lack thereof).