- Driver in Jeep Grand Cherokee in front of me at a red light backs into the front end of my car.
- Even after he makes solid contact with my front bumper, he continues to rev engine until his bumper pops over my bumper onto the top of my car.
- I was laying on the horn, from the time he first put his car into reverse until...
- Finally realizing what he’s done, he swerves into the right-hand lane, which is a right-turn-only lane.
- He takes off like a bat out of hell.
- I take off after him (my car is not seriously damaged, but I haven’t seen it yet, so I don’t know).
- I catch up to him, overtake him, and park my car diagonally in front of him so that he can’t get away.
- He jumps out of his vehicle, hurling invectives at me, of a sort that I have *never* heard come out of another person’s mouth. He used every gender-specific crude or foul word toward women that I have ever heard of, and perhaps some I’ve never even heard before.
- His veins were popping out on his forehead and neck.
- He tells me I’m a g**damn idiot (several times, in fact).
- Yeah, really.
- His premise is that he wasn’t trying to get away, he was merely getting out of traffic so that we could exchange info without tying up traffic.
- Yeah, right.
- These are the sum total of words I say to him during our “conversation,” and these are precise quotes: “You hit my car.” and “Oh, I will.” (When he screamed that I could call the g**damn police, and I could call his g**damn insurance company.)
- He screamed at me at the top of his lungs for quite a long time.
- I got into my car because I was afraid that his assault would become physical (however, the top was down, so my car didn’t offer that much protection).
- He continued screaming at me.
- I called the police.
- The driver, Robert R., stopped screaming, got into his vehicle, and we waited for the cops to come.
- The cops cited Robert R. for some sort of irresponsible driving for backing into me at a red light.
- Despite my protests, the cops did *not* charge Robert R. with hit and run.
- They also did not cite him, nor did they even say anything stern to him, about his verbal assault.
- They told me that I don’t have much recourse in the verbal assault matter.
- Robert R. does have good insurance.
- His insurance company’s claims adjuster came out and looked at my car.
- He says that the bumper does not need to be replaced, and he waxed off the scuff marks that were left on the top of the car from when Robert R.’s car popped over my bumper.
- He calculates that the total of my damage/losses is $86.84 (damage to a car-dealer tag and tag holder on the front end of the car).
- I think that he’s being generous, given that he says that’s all the damage there is. But I think that, with just a few well-placed words, and no foul language, I got him to understand that his client is a jerk.
- Robert R is a liar.
- Robert R has a major anger-management problem and possibly hates women.
- Robert R has the intelligence of a gnat. However, to make up for this deficiency, he has the vocabulary of a sailor on meth.
- Robert R has the driving skills of a drunken chimpanzee.
- Robert R should’ve gotten stuck with way more than one traffic ticket for backing into my car and an insurance bill of $86.84.
And, not to get all preachy on you, but–lacking legal or civil recourse–it gives me solace to know that God knows what’s what.
The Bible says:
- Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
- But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.
- The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good.
- How long, LORD, how long will the wicked be jubilant?
- Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
- The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
- The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death.
- The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.
- And so on in that vein.
Given that Tennessee has a "stand-your-ground" statute, he's lucky it was you, not somebody packing heat. (He's also lucky you didn't have one of your bros with you, though if you had he'd probably have been too big a coward to say that stuff.) I think the officer was just trying to keep his own day uncomplicated: what you experienced was "assault," which even in Tennessee is a crime. You said, "I was afraid that his assault would become physical." That is the legal definition of "assault." The officer should have asked you if you wanted to press the charge. And you should not just accept his insurance company's estimate of the damage -- you should have your insurance company also look into it. After all, his company has an interest in minimizing any damages.
ReplyDeleteHey, bro'. Yes, I wish that I could just carry a brother or two around with me everywhere I go. I've always found that they come in handy in many situations. Kelly said the same thing about taking Robert's insurance company's word on the claim. At the time that the claims adjuster looked at my car, when he said that there was no damage to the bumper, I told him that I wanted to get a second opinion from an independent body shop. He said that that was fine, and just to let him know if they said anything different from what he said in his report. Later that day, a guy from the insurance company called to tell me that they were sending me my check for $86.84. I told him the same thing I'd told the claims adjuster, and he, too, was fine with that. Everyone that I talked to at Robert's insurance company was very pleasant and they didn't make an ordeal out of my claim.
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