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Comment by Someone1234 | Hacker News Reader

Sorry that happened. Thanks for sharing.

What damage on your vehicle caused the high cost of repairs? Just surprisingly high for a 3~ MpH impact.

A lot of cars today have body panels that have to be replaced instead of repaired. Add in any sort of special paint color and a single panel can run $1k to make like new. Side swipe something that runs across a few panels and it can quickly add up.

In addition, bumpers (front and rear) are designed to pop off quite easily, to deflect force away from the vehicle. the way they crinkle up and come off, full replacement often makes sense.

I backed out a parking spot and into some guy speeding through the lot. Me, a bit of rubber on the bumper that I wiped off with a magic eraser. Him, front quarter panel and both passenger doors had to be replaced. I was pissed off about the unfairness of it all. That him driving reckless and me being in the wrong place made me at fault for thousands of dollars in damage.

I'm not surprised to see a car accident with wildly different results on both vehicles.

Aren't you at fault though even per your own version?

You pulled into a driving lane that the other vehicle was already in. Your justification for why you shouldn't be at fault is that he was "speeding" but there's no set speed limit in a parking lot, and you're meant to verify it is clear before locomotion.

Plus if you witnessed them "speeding" you would have known you were pulling out in front of them, which makes you in the wrong anyway. If you didn't know they were oncoming you couldn't have known they were "speeding." It doesn't make basic logical sense that you could have both known they were speeding AND pulled out into them, because to know that you would have had eyes on their car.

Yes, I’m at fault simply for backing out into the lane as far as the insurer is concerned. I’m also at fault for not having eyes in superposition. I can’t simultaneously see out of my rear left and rear right.

All to say, you weren’t there and don’t know what happened. And I’ll leave it at that.

In many states, parking lots have a 5-15 mph speed limit. In California, the alleyway limit typically applies. There is also the basic speed law: drive no faster than is safe.

https://www.mycaliforniapermit.com/california-teen-driver-ed...

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-California-bother-having-a-5-...

bumper, hood, radiator, connecting parts, paint matching on a 7 year old car, etc. Not a big deal, I just wanted to tell people my story so people realize even doing it in a parking lot or neighborhood can probably kill if it is possible for me to crash that hard in bumper to bumper traffic.

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