Morons in Madison, Part III. AHHHH!!!!!!!
 

HEY FOLKS! GUESS WHAT HAPPENED FOR THE THIRD TIME TODAY! YEP! SOMEONE DRIVING INTO MY F*CKING CAR!

Apparently, here in Madison WI, people think its okay to park their car by RUNNING into the adjacent ones. What's funny about this is that I seem to recall being REQUIRED to be able to paralell park in order to get my god damn license! SO GEE, FOR THE THIRD TIME IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS, I've had some DUMBASS just RUN RIGHT INTO IT scuffing up the clearcoat and all the way to the plastic.

What should I do?

A brief history. The first time, in a fit of rage, I left a sarcastic note, and stole the guys windshield wipers. The second time, I called the police, and filed a police report. I waited for over an hour for hte police to arrive, at which point they sat while I explained what had happened, pointed out hte white paint from the white truck in front of me that was now embedded into my bumper, and pointed out the large black scrape of black paint and plastic hanging off from his. Yeah, that would have been swell, except that when I got my police report, it said "Cannot determine who ran into who".

So yeah, basically, unless its a big accident, the police don't give a sh*t. So PLEASE, TELL ME, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHAT I SHOULD DO.

I left a note on the guys wiper saying that he backed into me, if he wants to settle it outside of the insurance company its fine with me, and my cell phone number. BUT, if this jackass does NOT call me back, I think I'm goign to go after their car with a freaking FIRE AXE.

PLEASE PLEASE I"M BEGGING ALL OF YOU TO TELL ME WHAT HTE HELL I SHOULD DO. DOes anyone manufacturer gigantic PUSHBARS for the SVX? WOuld there be a way to attach them somehow to keep these stupid ***ks from RUNNING INTO ME?!

ANd yes, I apologize for the profanity... but JESUS CHRIST. THREE TIMES IN LESS THAN SIX MONTHS! ARGH!

ANNNNNDDD thats not even COUNTING the time the lady with the stupid impala DROVE INTO THE BACK OF ME BECAUSE SHE DEVIATED FROM HER LANE (2400 dollars in damage there).

ARRGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Rob

Sorry to hear that, Rob. :( You have got to have about the worst luck of anyone I know in this regard. Unless you park really bad yourself, like with your car sticking out into the other spots, etc. No, even then, most people would not try to park there then. And most people would leave a note to settle it if they hit your car. I think you are right, people there are just below average when it comes to parking ability and courtesy.

Perhaps it is just karma. The SVX gods are paying you back for all the trouble you caused here (whether you started it or not). :D :D

Seriously though, I hate to hear that happen to anyone and I hope we've heard this for the last time. I'll sacrifice some wrecked bumpers to the SVX gods when I visit the wreck tonight. :D

See, that's the thing. Parking is EXTREMELY limited in downtown madison... and its either pay 120-150 dollars a month for a spot (can't afford that), parking in the 2 hour lanes (actually 2 days with a permit) that do NOT HAVE LINES DESIGNATING INDIVIDUAL SPOTS (causing morons to stuff their cars into spots that are too little for htem, like what happened today, and the previous 2 times), or parking at a meter spot and plugging the meter every 2 hours with 2 dollasr in change (can't do, in class all day).

HOWEVER, just because you park in the 2 hour spots, I do NOT think that gives others a right to drive into you. I also don't think its right for hte police to just 'shrug' at the problem either. If I went up to a person, hit them in the head with a metal rod, causing a small bruise and a scrape that 'went a bit below the skin', I'm SURE they'd have a problem with it. However, they DONT with cars. And honestly, I'd rather get hit in the head than have someone drive into my car, because my BODY heals itself. Yeah, I'd get a bruise or something, in a week or two, I'd be fine. My car, on the other hand, lacks those 'healing' properties.

Seriously, is there any way to attach some sort of 'cowcatches with shaped charges' to the front of my car?

I see bad drivers
 

Sorry to hear it Rob.

Some people are pretty ignorant, some are careless, and some are stupid. There are good people and good drivers, but they seem scarce in your neck of the woods.

Play it cool man, use your insurance or whatever to get restitution. Keep a cool head, best way to get even.

Joe

I can't do that man! The only way to get insurance is to file an accident report, and the police here don't seem to want to get involved, so they say they can't tell who ran into who.

ARGH. I feel like crying, killing, maiming, and collapsing.... seriously, people keep running into my car, and I LOVE this car!

- Rob

That situation pretty much sucks. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that kind of thing any more. But really, no matter how bad it is, that is still no excuse for people to park so horribly and then disregard common courtesy when they mess up.

Shaped charges on the bumper might indeed teach them that. :D Sounds like a bit better law enforcement might too. But that probably goes with the excuse you'll hear from cops just about anywhere: there just aren't enough of them on the streets (because not enough money) to handle every single issue. :(

I'm sure a local welding shop could work up some kind of custom steel push bumpers on your front and back. Won't be attractive though. Another option would be to buy a spare set of perfect black bumpers, front and back. Get really good at changing out your bumpers so you have it down to a few minutes like a NASCAR pit crew. Then on the weekends or whenever you want to go out with your car lookin' good and you know there will be safe parking, you switch them out. :D

Rob,
I sure wish there WERE something you could do. This kind of thing really stinks, and, unfortunately, like you said, Law Enforcement just shrugs it off.

My only suggestion would be for you to get with Lwin and have him set up a couple of lipstick cams and a surveillance VCR to record your car while parked. Then, hand the evidence to the police, or leave a note on the perpetrator's car, saying "I have a videotape recording of you backing into my car, please contact me with your insurance information so that the damage can be repaired. Failure to comply will result in litigation."

That's all I can think of. AND, I'm not joking.

Alright. Shaped Charges it is.


hehe. That would be really cool.

:D

I'll see if I can work out some sort of temporary pushbar thing... maybe so if they're disturbed at all it'll activate the a....

hrm...

you know'd be kinda cool? Pushbars with built in paintball guns. Or something.

Hrm

I don't know, I'm just really really really sick and tired of having to deal with this. I've NEVER backed into a car before (I admit, I did once, but I checked for damages, there were non, both cars had plastic bumpers)... and if I drove a vehicle with CHROME BUMPERS, I'd SURE as hell NEVER bump ANYONE.

Ack. I'm so worn out at the momemt, I think I'm going to go take a nap, this feeling of frustration is just really tiring.

- Rob

Rob,

You want to go my route with a camera and a video recorder, you are more than welcome to email me to discuss this and the setting up stuff.

L

for the camera, i got a black and white one from lwin that i won't be fitting in the car for a while.... i'll let it go for real cheap...

How much?

I might put a second camera at the front..

L

how much did you sell it to me for? i fogot.... make me a reasonable offer and its yours... i mean, u know i haven't mounted it, so its probably in the exact same shape that you sold it to me for..... let me know... i'm going down to chicago tomorrow to take the svx to the tranny shop, i might be able to drop it off for you on the way there or on the way back...

Humm... let me think... Damn, I can't keep buying everything.

L

yeah i found the post.... i got it from you for 50 bucks, so if i can get 50 bucks for it, its yours again

Rob
 

Hey Rob, I'm Glad to see that your coming out of your shell. BOBB