Are You Stupid, A Bad Driver, or Just Negligent?
Maybe a combo?
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
I came home from work the other night and my wife had a friend over that she'd met at work. The woman was also from South Korea and they were hanging out. Shortly after I got home, they went outside to smoke. That's when the fun began.
The woman had parked outside our house on the street, but on the wrong side. I park in front of the house so I didn't see her jeep around the corner parked against the red painted curb or else I'd have told her to move it myself. Well, in that little bit of time, the neighbor across the street had tried to pull out of their driveway and backed into the jeep (that was parked illegally, but all the way across the street) and had called the police.
To make matters worse, when the officer arrived (I live on post, but we have federal police here, not MP's since our base is so small) it turns out that the woman didn't have an American driver's license (she did have one from South Korea) and the plates were expired on her jeep.
Now, my first thought was why did she park there? Did she not see the red paint on the curb?
But my second thought was why did the idiot across the street hit the jeep? I mean, how could you not see the jeep in your mirror? And back into it from all the way across the street? And if she did see it, why not come ask to have it moved. The way the houses are situated on our corner, it's fairly obvious that a car parked there is probably there for us and no other house nearby.
Like I said, the jeep was parked illegally and I'm not trying to put all this on someone else. But come on. If there's even a little doubt about being able to get in/out of the driveway, why not be extra careful or just call the police before you hit their car?
It's funny, the curb in front of their house is where you can park and it's directly behind my driveway and I make it in and out of my driveway without ever coming close to hitting the cars that are occasionally parked there.
I brought the phone out so my wife's friend could call her husband. Turns out her husband works in the Criminal Investigation Detachment (CID), so he works with the base police and the one on the scene knew him. He said he'd be there shortly.
After looking at the scene and my neighbors just standing there, I decided to just stay out of it. They were over on their side of the street whispering and pointing and trying to get the officer to hurry up and write the ticket. They kept opening and closing their rear hatch door on their van to make sure it still worked.
Like I said, the jeep was parked illegally. I admit it. But it takes some special effort to hit a parked car all the way across the street and then act like you've done nothing wrong. Which by legal standards, maybe they hadn't. But by common sense standards, they failed.
The end all was that her husband showed up. They did their secret policeman handshake or whatever. The plates were legal, they just hadn't put the new sticker on. The drivers license thing was forgotten and no tickets were issued. Both parties decided to handle repairs on their own, either out of pocket or with their insurance companies. And now, I like my neighbors even less.
She came over to visit again yesterday and had her plates updated and she parked in my spot in front of the house. Just to be safe.
My Ecosystem Details
The woman had parked outside our house on the street, but on the wrong side. I park in front of the house so I didn't see her jeep around the corner parked against the red painted curb or else I'd have told her to move it myself. Well, in that little bit of time, the neighbor across the street had tried to pull out of their driveway and backed into the jeep (that was parked illegally, but all the way across the street) and had called the police.
To make matters worse, when the officer arrived (I live on post, but we have federal police here, not MP's since our base is so small) it turns out that the woman didn't have an American driver's license (she did have one from South Korea) and the plates were expired on her jeep.
Now, my first thought was why did she park there? Did she not see the red paint on the curb?
But my second thought was why did the idiot across the street hit the jeep? I mean, how could you not see the jeep in your mirror? And back into it from all the way across the street? And if she did see it, why not come ask to have it moved. The way the houses are situated on our corner, it's fairly obvious that a car parked there is probably there for us and no other house nearby.
Like I said, the jeep was parked illegally and I'm not trying to put all this on someone else. But come on. If there's even a little doubt about being able to get in/out of the driveway, why not be extra careful or just call the police before you hit their car?
It's funny, the curb in front of their house is where you can park and it's directly behind my driveway and I make it in and out of my driveway without ever coming close to hitting the cars that are occasionally parked there.
I brought the phone out so my wife's friend could call her husband. Turns out her husband works in the Criminal Investigation Detachment (CID), so he works with the base police and the one on the scene knew him. He said he'd be there shortly.
After looking at the scene and my neighbors just standing there, I decided to just stay out of it. They were over on their side of the street whispering and pointing and trying to get the officer to hurry up and write the ticket. They kept opening and closing their rear hatch door on their van to make sure it still worked.
Like I said, the jeep was parked illegally. I admit it. But it takes some special effort to hit a parked car all the way across the street and then act like you've done nothing wrong. Which by legal standards, maybe they hadn't. But by common sense standards, they failed.
The end all was that her husband showed up. They did their secret policeman handshake or whatever. The plates were legal, they just hadn't put the new sticker on. The drivers license thing was forgotten and no tickets were issued. Both parties decided to handle repairs on their own, either out of pocket or with their insurance companies. And now, I like my neighbors even less.
She came over to visit again yesterday and had her plates updated and she parked in my spot in front of the house. Just to be safe.
My Ecosystem Details
I will never win best driver of the year award that is 4 sure!
), but they can control their vehicles. I'm all for stricter testing in this country, just to make the roads a little safer.