While Sibylle and I were in Manhattan yesterday, so that she could teach, the Lexus was backed into. Again. Regular readers of zanshin will know that in August, while moving into our townhouse, someone visiting the neighbor backed his mini-van in to the right, rear passenger side of the car, doing roughly $1968 damage. On that occasion I tried to be a nice guy and didn’t call the police. We just exchanged contact information, and I got a copy of his insurance information. When it later turned out that he was uninsured, and penniless too boot, I regreted not having called the police. (I am still short the $500 deductible required to have the car fixed.)
When we discovered that the car had been hit again, and it almost the same spot, I was stunned. After Sibylle had finished her teaching we decided to take a short walk through Aggieville, the student portion of town. We window shopped and enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine. On our way back across the parking lot toward the car, we noticed someone backing out of a space opposite the Lexus. From across the rather large parking lot it looked like they were close to the Lexus, but it was hard to tell. When we got to the car we could see that the right corner of rear bumper, where it wraps around the car, was marred. The outer layer of plastic is broken and scratched, and there is white (paint from the other car) clearly visible on the car.
The car we had seen backing out, which and then driven right past us, had hit our car. And then just drove off; no note, no attempt to do the right thing, just a total abdication of his or her responsibility. What an ass.
Sibylle called the KSU campus police, who came very quickly, and we filled out an accident report. Since the other driver was no where to be found, I will once again be stuck with the deductible cost in order to get the car fixed. The only upside is that for a single $500 deductible I can now get both accidents fixed. Actually, I can get all three rear bumper/quarter panel injuries addressed. Since this new accident directly involves the rear bumper, which is covered in flakes of maroon spray paint, the replacement bumper would eliminate that damage.
Based on the $1968 estimate for the August accident, I am willing to bet that yesterday’s incident will also be in the $2000 range, especially if we have the trunk lid repained to eliminate the rest of the paint damage. My $500 deductible is now getting me more value on the dollar.