last sunday some bloke who thinks he smart (and he is one of very many) that cut through a supermarket carpark without following the arrowed route, he shot between parked cars and used the gaps to try and exit the carpark quickly.
But someone (a nearside passenger in a parked VW) opened the passenger door just as this smart Alec was shooting through the gap from behind.
Result VW owner loses a door.
Why do some people think they are so smart in cutting through car parks like this when surely this sort of thing is likely to happen.
are these the same people who think they are good drivers ?
Note the VW owner and pasenger were no way in the wrong and as I saw the whole thing I was able to leave my details as a witness.
Edited by Webmaster on 30/04/2008 at 00:19
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i have to admit to doing this but with a big difference i will drive though into an empty space rather then reverse in and only at crawling speed and proper observation to avoid any incidents.
the other reason is to cut though but only if there are reasonable gaps i would never nip though between two cars only when there are a number of spaces in a block.
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In my experience many drivers abandon of even modest levels of care in car parks, especially supermarket car parks, and I'm quite nervous about using them.
People don't signal, they make impulsive decisions, they ignore the presence of other vehicles, they ignore traffic flow arrows. Somehow all the normal rules suddenly don't apply.
Most of the time they get away with it, because their speed is very low, but combine this behaviour with high speed and you've got a recipe for disaster, as the OP shows.
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People have varied levels of skill set and intelligence. They choose different professions depending on their circumstances and competitiveness.
However, on roads we assume that everyone has same IQ. This very assumption is flawed. There are idiots and there will always be!
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But someone (a nearside passenger in a parked VW) opened the passenger door just as this smart Alec was shooting through the gap from behind. Result VW owner loses a door. Note the VW owner and pasenger were no way in the wrong
Why? Surely it's the mistake of the VW passenger for not looking beforehand.
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Something similar happened to me.
I was moving forward, slowly, into an empty parking space from the one behind. I thought it would save me the bother of reversing out.
The passenger door of the car next to me opened into my wing - £300 worth of damage.
The driver of the other car was held responsible. The driver of a car is I understand always responsible for the actions of their pasengers, with the possible exception of a driver under instruction.
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It'll probably be a difficult one to call. Technically, the VW owner should have looked but on the other hand, the OP describes the cutter through driver as having 'shot' through implying he was driving too fast.
Just at the weekend I elected to go the wrong way down a small section in Sainsbury's (to save going round a very long loop back on myself). I edged very slowly and safely and waited for a car going the right way to go first. He took the time to stop in front of me, open his window and start shouting at me!!
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Passenger's fault in my view. But it happens all the time - people just park and fling the doors open, and don't notice whether there is a car there, moving or already parked.
Always give a wide berth to any parked car with someone in it.
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Queue jumping in any situation is a selfish act that winds up the rule abiding majority. The arrows are put down so idiots like this can follow the correct path around the car park. If they can't heed these or any other rules, then they should surrender the right to drive. The majority find systems like this easy enough, so why shouldn't the thick few who think they have a given right to disobey the rules and get away with it. Shame on anyone that condones this behaviour.
This type of driving leads to collisions, as we have been told in the OP, and worryingly, to road rage that can escalate to the point of someone losing their life.
Edited by Webmaster on 02/05/2008 at 02:09
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