Attacked by a beetle.......twice
 

On my way to campus for my Saturday class this morning when a beetle beside me driven by a young female driver, freshly licensed, merged into my lane forcing me to take quite extreme evasive action. Pulling into the parking lot two adjacent spaces are available and she takes one. As I pull up to back into the other one she suddenly begins reversing while I'm right behind her. I stop short so as to take the hit on either a fender or door instead of the quarter panel. I lay on my horn but to no avail and bang.

Fortunatley my front wheel took the entire force of the impact and the only body damage was just a miniscule scratch on the fender. Her rear bumper was much more significantly gouged. She had just got her license this week and still had temp tags on the car her parents bought for her and was listed secondary on her parents insurance policy.

When I told her that she had also run me off the road just a few blocks previous, her response was the expected, "I had no idea. I never even saw you there!" I then went on to explain that before reversing it is customary to look behind oneself to which she responded that they didn't require that to pass the driver's test.

I am glad my car is ok but appalled at the pathetic excuse for drivers that I must share the road with.

Re: Attacked by a beetle.......twice
 

Sorry to hear about that. I had a bug reverse into me at a stop sign, the day I put the car back on the road after the Transmission rebuild.

Is it just Arizona, or has West Virginia also stopped teaching Driver's Ed in High School?

Maybe she can learn something form this. I think most people are spending so much time in alternate worlds, that they forget to put them away when they get into a vehicle.

Be safe.

Re: Attacked by a beetle.......twice
 

Thanks.

They still have a driver's Ed class in the high schools here, but just like any other subject, I think the standards are being lowered to accomodate increasingly dumber generations.

I can't be mad at her; she's just a product of a flawed system........and my car is ok :)

Re: Attacked by a beetle.......twice
 

Here in Quebec drivers ed is mandatory. You also have to drive with another licensed driver for a year before taking your final drivers test. After that you have a probationary license for 3 years. If you have speeding tickets etc., you can lose your license and must redo the test after your suspension and pay a lot more money. Insurance also soars.

In spite of all this, terrible drivers manage to get on the road. A few months ago I saw a young woman leaving the license bureau having just received her full license. She pulled out directly in front of a pickup truck a caused a pretty major accident.

Re: Attacked by a beetle.......twice
 

No beetle for me, but a lady in a small suv clipped the front of my ebony 92' a few months ago.
I was leaving the factory at 6:15AM (grave shift) and I got smacked by some lady who decided to run a RED light. The right front corner light, fender and bumper took the hit.
One week, a new(oem) fender and corner light and repaired bumper later, her insurance company got to pay out $1800. bucks.
Her insurance agent had asked me if I would let her pay me cash for the repairs so the claim wouldn't go on her record. Uh...NO!

Re: Attacked by a beetle.......twice
 

Had a similar experience, except for the driver wasn't newly licensed & my quarter panel took the hit. I was quite livid, fortunately it was in a parking lot & a store clerk witnessed everything. He came running out, asked if I was ok (he obviously saw I was furious :mad:) & informed me he was a witness. He gave his account to the police, coincidentally making note that it was a rare car. The woman that had hit me heard that statement & you could just watch the look on her face turn to a severe state of worry. That look alone was priceless!

It is quite a shame at the caliber of drivers that "Pass" the driving test these days. I have actually had a newly licensed driver rear-end me, luckily not in the SVX, but still had the unfortunate experience.

Gives ya the warm & fuzzies about the future with all the half-a**ed drivers they license with every passing day!