[ROCKCENTER]

someone just hit my Elise. I was eating dinner peacefully with my girlfriend... my car in an isolated parking lot in a quiet gorgeous part of Laguna Beach - I could see my car out of the window. A couple went out to their luxury SUV - turned it on, stayed there for a minute with their xenons pointed right into our eyes... and then started backing up. Backing up. Backng up... in slow motion - and then *clank*. taking it in tomorow morning - it is hard to describe how angry I am. What do you say to someone who just backed into a parked car in a lighted, empty parking lot?

 

[BrokenR1]

Baseball bats speak louder than words.

 

[diveredd]

With the few numbers of cars actually delivered, it does seem like a high number of accidents in this car. I wonder if the accident rate is smiliar to other small cars like the Miata or MR2?

Perhaps its just a perception issue since we are all here looking at this board and waiting for our cars....ugh

 

[rtking]

That sucks. But hopefully when you present a hefty bill to them for the damages, maybe they'll suddenly learn to aim the mirrors and back-up properly in their huge SUV.

I hope there's no structural damage. I know that any damage is painful to see though.

Bob

 

[shay2nak]

how bad is the damage? where did they hit it?

 

[ROCKCENTER]

just to the left of the driver side tailight... hit where the starshield ends... could be better, could be a lot worse.

 

[Randy Chase]

Ouch. Sorry.

 

[MickOpalak]

At the scene I would have asked to see their driver's license and then cut it into tiny little pieces in front of them.

"I'm sorry but you're just too stupid to be driving."

 

[Lotus Fury]

Should have done as Cartman says: "I'll kick them sqaw in the NUTZ!"

That's just really really stupid. Why would they do that? Didn't they see you car when they were walking to theirs or was their SUV too big???

I hate crap like that, sorry man.

 

[Stan]

Drove a Europa (even smaller) for 5+ years all over the place...you need to park such cars in the PITA spots so that folks won't / can't do things like this.

Stan

 

[Surferjer]

Any pictures? I hate to tell you this, but my similar incident ended up costing the insurance company $5,000 total, including a new back clam and about 2 1/2 weeks in the shop. Heck, it's been BACK in the shop for the last week to get the letters put on, little fins in the back, and some touch-up paint work. Maybe you can make them rent you an exotic to drive in the meantime...

 

[Stan]

>>Any pictures? I hate to tell you this, but my similar incident ended up costing the insurance company $5,000 total, including a new back clam and about 2 1/2 weeks in the shop. Heck, it's been BACK in the shop for the last week to get the letters put on, little fins in the back, and some touch-up paint work. Maybe you can make them rent you an exotic to drive in the meantime...<<

I spoke with an Architect about parking lots briefly at a car event. I personally don't care for all those extra curbs and islands they add these days...cuts down on future autocross sites and leads to scuffed wheels! Anyway he said that there is always an issue about getting as many parking spots as possible...and that SUVs are basically trucks of decent size so they don't neatly fit into the lay out formulas. So for exampe a suburban would be quite hard to park and maneuver in tight lots designed for normal sized cars. If lots were made larger such that SUVs could more easily back up and swing to the side (as easily as normal cars can), the lot would wind up with fewer spaces which hurts the economic numbers.

Mostly I park in the safer spots which tends to mean about a minute extra walking time. I could use the excercise anyway.

On the insurance thing Jer...since you were parked and the other driver was moving it is their fault I think...? I imagine that your insurance company would subrogate the other driver's insurance so you should be out of pocket zero dollars and your insurance company should get their payout back.

I'm not really up on insurance matters. But if the Elise turns out to be a frequently backed-into vehicle, does this wind up affecting our rates? Since when parked it has to be the other driver's fault? Maybe this depends on the state too - no-fault laws and so forth.

 

[cerven]

YUP - any repairs still f**k up my rates in KY even if I'm parked - no fault insurance state - each party pays for their own damages regardless (or irregardless LOL) of who's at fault - pain in the ASS!

After hearing all this trouble, I'm thinking of using a tall flag on a thin fiberglass extension pole (fishing rod-like) that I put on the car when I park it.

 

[mikester]

Rockcenter, what a bummer sorry to hear this. Where in Laguna was this ?

Stan, I can ask my wife (she's in the insurance "world"), but I've gotta believe the answer is yes it would have to affect the way they rate the car. P.S. Stan those black wheels (SSRs right) look soo good on your car !

 

[Stan]

>>>YUP - any repairs still f**k up my rates in KY even if I'm parked - no fault insurance state - each party pays for their own damages regardless (or irregardless LOL) of who's at fault - pain in the ASS!
After hearing all this trouble, I'm thinking of using a tall flag on a thin fiberglass extension pole (fishing rod-like) that I put on the car when I park it.<<<<

I don't really generate much accident insurance activity so I am out-of-it here. But long ago I was rear ended twice in a couple year period in NJ, both times while stopped. In each case my insurance subrogated the other guy and I got my deductible back a few months later. I usually use a $500 deductible. If I am safely parked and someone backs into me while I drop a letter I am out $500 and my rates may rise? That would stink. I think I will keep parking in the walk-a-minute zone. Perhaps extra individual responsibility is the key here.

 

[ChrisStarrUSA]

Gang,

This sucks - sorry to hear the news.

Unfortunately, experience tells me we will likely hear a lot of painful stories like this. In the past I had two Miatas that I took care to park in "safe spots" (far out in the lot, near no other cars, etc.). Regardless, both cars were hit in almost identical situations - big SUVs backing up and not seeing the cars. I'm convinced that 99% or drivers are braindead, negligent, do not care, or a combination of all three.

By the way, while I am much in awe of the design of the Elise, it seems silly that the clams don't have separate bumpers so that with incidents like this people don't have to do a $5,000+ clam swap.

Chris

 

[JonOrangeElise]

This is exactly why "my proposed safety legislation" calls for mandatory 2-minute blind-spot demos before anyone drives off a new car lot. And more prominent blind spot documenation in owner manuals and even on sunshades would help as well.

Yes, 95 percent of the car-driving public is ignorant if not just plain stupid. They treat car travel as if it should be as simple and mindless as a trip on a bus. They're not looking to assume mastery of the car, they want the car to do all the work. It's insane. But you know what? I'm tired of letting these ninnies off the hook just because America's libertarian fiber is anti-regulation.

It's time to regulate the idiocy out of American drivers!

Edit: I will definitely be getting a detachable "stick with a flag on top" sort of thing to put on my Elise when parked in parking lots. One school of thought says "don't call anymore attention to this car; people will molest it, and the flag is a provoking element." But, shoot, my car will be chrome orange -- it's making a huge in-you-face statement as is.

Here is the thread:
Legislation Thread

 

[Stan]

>>>By the way, while I am much in awe of the design of the Elise, it seems silly that the clams don't have separate bumpers so that with incidents like this people don't have to do a $5,000+ clam swap.<<<

Earlier Loti such as Europas and Elans had specific crash parts available. Things such as a RF portion could be procured. Or a short nose that could be bonded into the remainder of the body after the broken stuff was cut away. I get a sense that these days noone repairs anything. You just keep removing parts until only good stuff remains and then bolt on new stuff. I recall seeing Surferjer's back-up damage picture which seemed quite repairable to me. Jer did you wind up keeping the damaged rear clam?

 

[babak]

Should have done as Cartman says: "I'll kick them sqaw in the NUTZ!"

Ding. Man I'm sorry, nothing moves slower than accident you see coming.

 

[jml1952]

I was in Davis last week and had to rent a car - they "upgraded" me to an SUV (Dodge Durango). I had never driven an SUV, so I was surprised at the handling and acceleration. However, after 15 years in a Miata, this thing was huge. Of course, I was paranoid about backing up and hitting something, so I was extremely careful when parking and such. Unfortunately, most SUV drivers probably don't pay quite so much attention.

You can put all the flagsticks on the car that you want and park in the most paranoid spots imaginable, but you can't overcome human stupidity and inattention. It makes sense to take some precautions, but if you are unlucky, they will still get you.