I love the excuses people try to come up with when they crash into parked cars. First of all, when it’s 2:15AM and you’re not DUI, then you shouldn’t be crashing into stuff. It’s pretty simple when the road is straight and you want to go from point A to point B. Just drive straight.
When there are parked cars on the side of the road they don’t move. They’re parked. They’re actually giant paper weights on wheels at that moment. In fact, the parked car is as harmless as a sock on the floor of my son’s room.
Tonight, this guy tried telling me the lane got narrow and that was how he crashed into three parked cars. I pointed to the street and asked him if the lane width at the collision scene was the same as it was 500 feet down the road. He looked and told me it was the same.
I told him his story didn’t make sense and it wasn’t working for me. I asked him to help me out so I could write a report that people could understand.
With a confused look he fell back on an old collision investigation favorite. He blamed the phantom car, which allegedly moved into his lane and caused him to crash.
The phantom car has been the cause of many collisions at night. You’d be amazed on what kind of damage the phantom car has caused over the course of my career.
The phantom car is like the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot. It’s been seen, but its existence has never been proven.
Of course, he couldn’t stop at the phantom car excuse. He had to throw in one more excuse to make the unbelievable more believable. He told me one of the parked cars was sticking out, yet he never saw it before the crash.
I often wonder if people realize how silly they sound when they try to pull stuff out of their ass.
Until the next time the phantom car strikes. I’m sure we won’t have to wait long.
Badge415 
I can remember a truck pulling out on me when I was cycling down hill at around 25mph. I screamed when I saw the woman pull out. I took evasive action. She panicked and drove into 3 parked cars. I was unscathed but her ignorance left her with a huge bill. If only she had taken the time to look and anticipate that a cycle travelling on that particular hill would be going faster than Grandma in her frame. Tut tut.
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I was thinking the same thing as i drove my son to school today. I came to a stop sign and looked both ways before going. I thought back to all the collisions I’ve handled where people could have avoid them if they had just taken a moment to look before going.
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I also believe it’s about anticipating. As a runner, cyclist and driver of a Land Rover. I have to always assume that there’s the possibility of a cyclist around the corner on a narrow country road or a child too close to the kerb. Looking ahead and being aware of the conditions, the environment and the fact that humans can be unpredictable. If I’ve done all of that, I’ve done my absolute best and hopefully, I’ll avoid the washing machine falling off the back of the truck in front.
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Very true. It’s about anticipating. That will help us every time.
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If only everyone thought that way. Here in the UK, you gave way to traffic on your right when entering a roundabout. The number of drivers that don’t obey that rule and then get abusive, is unreal. I’m wondering what copy of the Highway Code they actually read…
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You make ppl nervous❗❗😀
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