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View Full Version : I backed into a fire hydrant with my new car!!!!!



kwc
01-16-2004, 02:27 PM
AAAAARRRGH! My first new car ever, only 11 days old!
I was leaving work at a new clinic and missed a turn, then pulled over onto a small street to catch my bearings, then decided to make a 3-point turn and go back. Well, when I backed up, I didn't get more than 2 feet and bonk! Splash!!!!!!!! Big geyser!!!!

So I drove around the block to get out of the way of the water (of course, no parking allowed on the street I turned onto), crawled in back to look for my cell phone and then waited through the phone tree of the "non-emergent" police line, then reported it. No less than 2 police cars and a dept of water truck and scores of families and little kids coming and freaking out! And the first police guy accused me of leaving the scene!!!!! Ummm.... OK, I'm dumb, but not dumb enough to park half a block away and to call and report MYSELF!!!!!

Of course, this is my 6th car but my first new car ever, and my first accident! AAARGH! I guess I had to do it in the most public way ever! I don't know how much the city will charge me for the hydrant and damage... hopefully no one's property was damaged by the water but I am sure we will get a bill if it was.

But, fortunately, DD was not in the car as I was returning from work, and the car, as I was probably only going 5 mph, has only a bit of damage (though DH wants a new bumper as it is our only new car ever). My parents, who were watching DD, were very sweet, and helped me to laugh about it as the whole thing was very cartoon-like. And I had been dreading that some of the people coming out of the houses would be my patients (as it was so close to the clinic) but fortunately it was dark!

So, please, go ahead and laugh, some good should come from this!

Karen

amp
01-16-2004, 04:17 PM
Awww, that stinks! That's funny that you fled the scene and then reported yourself! Like you should have stood under the geyser and phone in and wait through the phone options to report it, all the while, getting soaked and preparing to swim! How ridiculous! Hope is ends ok and they don't bill you for a fortune!

brigmaman
01-17-2004, 12:09 AM
Lol, but not at you, with you! This might make you feel a bit better.
Last summer I got in my car at home, put the car in reverse and stepped on the gas as I always do. 2 seconds later...BOOM! I slammed right into my husband's truck! (My excuse- usually it's not parked behind me...)Not too much damage to our cars...just to my ego.
Two months ago I got in my car at home, put the car in reverse and 2 seconds later, BOOM! I ran right over, yes over, my friends Volvo that was parked...you guessed it... right where my husband's truck had been.
Yes, not once, but twice!!! And to boot, I missed my insurance company's 5 year good driver accident forgiveness (no rate increase for 1st accident) by 1 1/2 months! So now I pay $50 more per month!

jec2
01-17-2004, 12:23 AM
EEks! At least the first bump on the new car has a dramatic story to tell and retell and then laugh about. My first scratch on my first new car wasn't anything exciting like yours. Yours is one of those "you have to laugh or you'll just cry your eyes out!"

pritchettzoo
01-17-2004, 12:46 PM
That just plain sucks. I was going to say go have a good cry in the shower, but you've probably had enough running water for a while. :P

That really, really sucks.

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

trumansmom
01-17-2004, 02:57 PM
THat makes me feel better! I slammed into my husband's cousin's car last year in my driveway. I was driving a rental car for work and it was the day I found out I was pregnant. I was a little bit distracted...

I can't wait to tell him someone else did it twice!!

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and EDD 4/23/04!

crl
01-17-2004, 02:58 PM
Well, it's a great story anyway! And no one was hurt. . . . And it is a pretty funny image. I'm glad your parents helped you laugh about it!

ktdid74
01-17-2004, 03:35 PM
Sorry about your new car but it did provide a funny visual. My first new car was towed to the impound lot before I even got the plates on it. I was parked in the "resident's only" spots at DH's (then boyfriend) apartment. A couple of days later I clipped a yellow pole and got yellow paint along the driver side of the car. Honestly, I'd never been in a wreck or had a ticket before all that!

kwc
01-18-2004, 05:32 PM
Thanks everyone for the kind words! I feel a bit better a few days out now, but am dreading the bill from the city. Even the guy at the body shop was really nice when he realized how new the car was... assured me that he'd seen many cars with much less mileage than mine with far more damage (including one guy who got in a major accident on the first day of having his car... sucks!).

My mom (who has a problem with hitting stationary objects as well!) told me that after 40 years of driving, she now knows her best bet is to try to avoid backing up wherever possible (though she also hit my brother's car when backing out of her driveway... some backing can't be avoided). My Dad suggested that my _next_ new car should be an SUV or van with a camera out the back... of course, he wants a lot more grandchildren.

Funny, now it seems like I notice _every_ hydrant I drive by. Maybe it's just my mini-PTSD!

So, everyone, drive safely and stay dry!

Karen

lmintzer
01-19-2004, 03:23 PM
Karen,
What a bummer! We're right there with you. DH got in a small accident with our brand new Nissan Murano when it was 2 weeks old (and our new baby was 2 weeks old as well--we bought the car the day before the baby was born, lol).

It's so sad to "injure" a brand new car. Luckily, in both of our cases, no one was hurt.

Lisa
& Jack, 4/20/01
& Joshua, 11/16/03

sweetbasil
01-19-2004, 06:19 PM
I'm so sorry- what an awful feeling. It's good that your DD wasn't with you, though. I got pulled over for coasting through a stop sign right after DS#2 was born...I'd just left the OB's office with a tentative diagnosis of thrush (DS had it in his mouth, too), then the pharmacy lost our prescription, it was 1 1/2 hours past the baby's feeding, but I couldn't bf b/c the doc said to wait for conclusive lab results- so I'm driving home to get out the pump and do that while DS cried more; I swear I did my best to stop at the stop sign....) Anyway, DS#1 still talks about the time the policeman almost gave me a ticket, tells me to slow down while I'm driving, to be careful, etc. Ugh- wish I was alone that day!

I hope your new car looks even better than new with the new bumper. Sorry your week had to start like this :( Here's hoping it just gets better from here!