Ugh. In the middle of an otherwise lovely afternoon, our young neighbor across the street and I backed our vehicles into the street at the same time… and met in the middle with a small crunching sound.
Young D was parked directly opposite our driveway. Best I can tell, we were each poised to back into the street, waiting for traffic to go by. When the way cleared, we each pulled out without realizing the other was moving… and met in the middle.
I was driving my new minivan. The rear bumper seems to have done what it was supposed to do and has only a few blibs in the white paint to show for it. D’s older Dodge Intrepid has a big bumper-shaped dent in the back left door and a bit of the frame.
Claudia, Sam, Cate, and I were en route to meet up with Baba Jean and Susan Milius, who’s visiting from DC. We took bread and went to stalk ducks, coots, yellow-crowned night herons, and others. The girls seemed rather annoyed that they sat around in the driveway for an unduly long time not Going for a Ride in the Car Car. But we eventually got to Hermann Park and enjoyed a lovely sunny walk together. We’re all fine.
Later, Bill reminded me that D and I needed a police report if the damage was worth more than $300, which Mark the Mechanic next door estimates it is. (I haven’t collided with anyone in more than 20 years and didn’t think of it.) The police came, asked us a few questions, and filed an incident report… and then wrote D $600 worth of tickets. Apparently, his car was new to him over the weekend and he had not yet registered or insured it. Ouch!
D insists that the whole crash was my fault: that he was already in the street and I backed into him. Further, D has optimistically asked me to cover the cost of making basic repairs to his car door, plus cash to make up for not making it perfect. However, neither Claudia nor I saw him in the backup camera view until it was much too late. The geometry suggests that he pulled out late after I was in motion. The police declined to assign fault since our statements conflicted.
I could call USAA and file an insurance claim. But that is likely to result in higher insurance rates for both me and him. Particularly since pulling out the dent will cost less than our deductible, I’m not inclined to file a claim.
I’m also cognizant that he’s a neighbor. He seems like a good, earnest, kid and I’m not eager to foster any adversarial feelings. I’ll review the incident report once it’s online tomorrow, and talk more with D about expectations.
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The girls got no naps because I was out talking with the neighbor and HPD. But they had fun playing with Susan, Baba Jean, and Claudia. Highlights of our play included acting out Eric Carle’s Head to Toe, and reading Sandra Boynton’s Doggies together, where each of us barked the parts of different dogs. Cate and Sam even both joined in for howling. Good times!
