Missed it by *that* much.

[Tiberius Jim]

My boss ran into my office today to tell me that someone's parking brake either failed or wasn't engaged and the car rolled into parked cars, mine possibly being among them. I go outside to see this.

I thought for sure my car was hit and cringed to see how badly as I walked around. This is what I found.

That's about an inch of space, if not less, between the Toyota and mine. If I hadn't pulled into my spot further or driven a larger car she would have hit it for sure. I small part of me wished she had and hit the trunk, as some random asshole keyed it a few years back, but am glad to not have to worry about the hassle of getting repairs done and that the woman's mistake wasn't costly for her.

As it was, when we went and got the owner of the truck (it's a company truck for a landscaping company in the same complex as us) he took a look at the damage and declined to take her insurance info. The truck was pretty banged up elsewhere so he didn't see the point. Needless to say, that woman got damn lucky today, as did I. I mentioned that she and I should go buy a lottery ticket or something.

 

[Trekker4747]

So a standard transmission on her car I take it? She was probably on her phone or something when parking and, as you said, forgot to engage the parking brake. (Or put in in park if the car is an automatic.)

Maybe it's just me be putting my parking brake on is just second nature to me when I park and I drive an automatic so it's not 100% necessary to do so.

Glad to see your car came out of the experience unscathed.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

It's a Festivus Miracle!!

 

[Trekker4747]

It's a Festivus Miracle!!

 

[Tiberius Jim]

So a standard transmission on her car I take it? She was probably on her phone or something when parking and, as you said, forgot to engage the parking brake. (Or put in in park if the car is an automatic.)

Maybe it's just me be putting my parking brake on is just second nature to me when I park and I drive an automatic so it's not 100% necessary to do so.

Glad to see your car came out of the experience unscathed.

Yeah, the Camry Solara did come with a manual, although this woman didn't particularly strike me as someone who would drive one when an automatic is available (she apparently can't handle a parking brake, how can you expect her to change her own gears?) but I guess anything is possible. If it is an automatic that means she not only left the brake off but also left it in reverse. So yeah, manual is pretty likely.

Same with my on the parking brake; it's just a part of parking the car, just like putting the transmission in park and turning off the engine. I really don't get how this would even happen.

 

[Trekker4747]

Well, the car wouldn't even have needed to be in reverse if it was an automatic just in gear. Even in "drive" a car will roll backwards when the gas isn't pressed while the car is on an incline. (There's a particularly steep hill around here at the top of which there's a traffic light. If someone stops too close behind me I have to make sure the car doesn't roll too much when the light changes and I move my foot from the brake to the gas. Sometimes I'll hold the brake with one foot, rev the gas with the other to try and prevent a roll-back.)

So if she parked the car's idle was probably enough to keep in place when she stopped (or the car isn't powerful enough to pull itself forward at idle) but once she shut the engine off gravity would do the rest of the work. Probably a soft enough incline that the car wouldn't immediately start rolling once the engine was shut off.

Manual or automatic, though, the driver is a dummy but, shit happens, I guess.

Speaking of:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opu_0khp63o[/yt]

 

[Tiberius Jim]

Well, the car wouldn't even have needed to be in reverse if it was an automatic just in gear. Even in "drive" a car will roll backwards when the gas isn't pressed while the car is on an incline. (There's a particularly steep hill around here at the top of which there's a traffic light. If someone stops too close behind me I have to make sure the car doesn't roll too much when the light changes and I move my foot from the brake to the gas. Sometimes I'll hold the brake with one foot, rev the gas with the other to try and prevent a roll-back.)

So if she parked the car's idle was probably enough to keep in place when she stopped (or the car isn't powerful enough to pull itself forward at idle) but once she shut the engine off gravity would do the rest of the work. Probably a soft enough incline that the car wouldn't immediately start rolling once the engine was shut off.

Manual or automatic, though, the driver is a dummy but, shit happens, I guess.

That all depends on the design of the transmission in question. My Honda, for example, simply will not move any way but forward when it's in Drive, incline or not. I realized it once when driving in SF up one of those notoriously steep hills and I didn't have to do the double-foot dance to keep from rolling back. It will even pull enough at idle to get me up and over the curb into my driveway with no gas. Basically, it's impossible for the car to roll back when in D. Her transmission might be like yours then, where it doesn't lock the vehicle into any particular direction. The level of ineptness needed to not only set the E brake but also leave the car in gear astounds me. I'm gonna have to guess it's a manual to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Speaking of:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opu_0khp63o[/yt]

This guy...no excuse. The Escape doesn't come with a manual transmission...and so, so many chances for him to have stopped it if he had any sort of situational awareness. He even looks up at 0:60 and still doesn't notice in his peripheral vision that the car is gone. I love how he just drops the gas pump nozzle, too. Smart guy, that one.

 

[Gov Kodos]

The cages getting too close? Shit happens, and?

 

[Tiberius Jim]

Yes, I would say coming within an inch or less of hitting my car is too close. I posted mainly because shit did not happen, due to the sheer luck this woman experienced today in that 1.) She did not hit my car and 2.) the guy she did hit didn't give 2 shits about his already banged up work truck to file a claim. It was a potentially shitty situation that turned out not too shitty at all and with only the offending vehicle having any (but not much) visible damage. It was a "faith in humanity/someone was looking out for you." sort of occurrence, and excuse me for wanting to share it.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Sort of like someone flinging themselves between you and the car next to you without quite hitting either one? Damn lucky that.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

Yep, cause this situation and what you referring to are completely comparable...

Would you mind staying on topic? Thanks.

 

[Gov Kodos]

What? People coming close to hitting other cars for their own convenience? Well, I really don't care for folks whacking my car or even coming close just to make their lives easier.

 

[Amaris]

My boss ran into my office today to tell me that someone's parking brake either failed or wasn't engaged and the car rolled into parked cars, mine possibly being among them. I go outside to see this.

I thought for sure my car was hit and cringed to see how badly as I walked around. This is what I found.

That's about an inch of space, if not less, between the Toyota and mine. If I hadn't pulled into my spot further or driven a larger car she would have hit it for sure. I small part of me wished she had and hit the trunk, as some random asshole keyed it a few years back, but am glad to not have to worry about the hassle of getting repairs done and that the woman's mistake wasn't costly for her.

As it was, when we went and got the owner of the truck (it's a company truck for a landscaping company in the same complex as us) he took a look at the damage and declined to take her insurance info. The truck was pretty banged up elsewhere so he didn't see the point. Needless to say, that woman got damn lucky today, as did I. I mentioned that she and I should go buy a lottery ticket or something.

Yeah, that was way too close. You couldn't fit your hand in that space without squishing it. Maybe you should go get a lottery ticket, too!

 

[Tiberius Jim]

What? People coming close to hitting other cars for their own convenience? Well, I really don't care for folks whacking my car or even coming close just to make their lives easier.

Her car rolled into another vehicle likely because she forgot to take her car out of gear or apply the parking brake. How did forgetting to do those things convenience her/make her life easier in any way, whether the car had rolled away or not...?

Yeah, that was way too close. You couldn't fit your hand in that space without squishing it. Maybe you should go get a lottery ticket, too!

Yeah, I was amazed by how close it was. It was so close that I wasn't able to tell right away that she hadn't hit the car. I was able to stick my hand in between but there wasn't a lot of room for it in between. Had I simply not pulled up a few more inches into my parking space...there would have been a trip to the body shop and a rental car in my future.

 

[Gov Kodos]

That presentience at work again. Maybe she's just that damn good at flinging her vehicle around?

 

[Tiberius Jim]

I have no idea what you're talking about. The vehicle was unoccupied at the time of the incident, so nothing was "flung around" intentionally.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Oh, you weren't there. So, your insight into what happened is based on..?

 

[Tiberius Jim]

What? I wasn't there when it happened but my coworker saw it happen. The car just straight up rolled back into the truck. I was told that it happened by said coworker and that my car may have been hit, too. I went out to see, and shortly after the owner of the car came out from the business she had been inside of. She had no idea what had happened.

I'm not understanding why you're being so contentious.

 

[Gov Kodos]

So, this is all hear say with after the fact pictures. And we are to comment...?

 

[Tiberius Jim]

Dude, I don't know what you angle is but I'm only going to say this: I posted this because I thought it was an interesting happening and amazing that such a bad situation ended up being a minor blip on everyone's radar due to the truck owner being a decent guy and my car not being an inch or two longer..in other words, it was some damn good luck on her part coupled with a good human being which IMO added up to a cool story. You are to comment on it if you wish, speculate as to what could have happened as Trekker did, weigh in with a similar experience...or do not comment on it if you do not wish. The choice is yours.