Lurkumaural
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- Jan 21, 2011
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I live in San Francisco. For me this means that wherever I've managed to find parking, I have to move my car periodically to avoid getting a ticket. I don't drive my car much, instead using my wife's car, walking, or boarding the train.
Last night I decided to move the car, which was one square block away, because a space opened up across the street from my apartment and if I parked there I could keep an eye on it. And I'd be free of the street sweeper until Tuesday.
Where I had left my car, there was enough space in front of it for a car to park, and a few times I had seen cars parked in front of it. So I thought it was extremely weird to see my car last night, in the streetlight, all the way at the end of the block. And pointed very slightly away from the curb. As I approached it, I was asking myself how someone could move it. Lift it? Tow it? Push it with their car? There wasn't a note or a ticket or anything else on the windshield.
Someone pushed it. While colliding with it. The rear left corner of the car was a sad combination of pushed in and missing, up to the fuel hatch. The impact seems to have occurred above center mass of the bumper, so it must have been a truck or SUV. The trunk lid was lifted slightly up, but still latched. The rear bumper had separated not only on the left but along the whole width of the car. The rear left wheel well was deformed, and there was trim touching the tire. The right rear wheel had dug into the curb pretty hard. I was going to move my car, so after inspecting the interior of the cabin and the trunk, and clearing the wheel well so nothing was touching the tire, I figured I could just move the car and then deal with insurance. The wheel looked fine. I was thinking it was only some body damage.
I made a U-turn and began to go down the block. I could feel and hear some resistance at the rear left wheel. It was turning against something. I got out and checked, and it didn't look any different, but clearly there was some additional damage that I hadn't been able to assess. The car was still drivable, albeit not wholly, so I thought I should just get it parked and then start worrying.
I made the right turn onto the street where I was intending to park. The drive immediately got worse. Again I got out to look; the left wheel was at a really bad negative camber, and apparently was no longer turning but rather dragging along. It was at this point that I called the police.
The police station is three blocks from where I was stranded. They showed up quickly (but not before someone took the parking space that I had wanted). They repeatedly made it very clear that there was nothing they could do for me with regards to law enforcement, but after I told them that's not the kind of help I needed they became very helpful. Because they've seen a few situations like this compared to my complete lack of experience with a disabled vehicle, they were able to help me figure out the order in which I should be making phone calls: insurance first, get the insurance provider to recommend a shop and a tow service, and then optionally get a police report. They offered that the police do not require a report, nor would the insurance company in all likelihood, because there is not another person involved who can accept or defer fault.
They were very sympathetic and extremely nice. One of them made the comment that when they meet someone normal, they almost don't know what to say. For this reason they were very generous with advice and anecdotes. For example, they are accustomed to using the push bars on their squad car to assist civilians with disabled vehicles like mine, but after someone sued them for using their push bars, the bars have since been removed. They wanted really badly to push my car, but sadly that wasn't an option, and hence the torrent of alternative helpfulness.
Despite my best friend being in the SFPD, I don't like cops and he knows this. He knows not to take it personally, because a) he knows the kind of experiences I've had, and b) he's seen his share of bad cops. I was expecting the two officers who assisted me to be judgmental or even rude. They were quite the opposite. It made me wonder because I the neighborhood I live in has got to be cake compared to some other areas of San Francisco, but they made it seem as if though my car problem was the best call they ever got.
They offered to light some road flares, joking that without the flares someone might wreck the front of the car. They surmised that the car was totaled and that I'd likely be covered for the purchase of another vehicle, so I didn't care either way, especially since they assured me that since they patrol the area, they'd be checking on the car frequently while I went home and called for a tow. They lit the flares, and I thanked them and walked up the block to my apartment.
Calling the insurance company was painless too, notwithstanding my own personal fog, fatigue, and general lack of comprehension at 1:30am. The insurance representative was skeptical that the car was in fact totaled, but smartly deferred to the claims handler who should be calling me today or tomorrow. In the meantime, I was recommended a couple of shops that would store and inspect the car free of charge since they were contracted with the insurance provider. I called one of them, got the number for a towing service from the shop's after-hours voicemail greeting (also free or else billed to the insurance), and within about 40 minutes the car was off to the shop.
The tow operator was really nice. Apparently I woke him up, and he said the trucks were locked up and he could get to me in the morning. At some point in the conversation he changed his mind, and said he'd show up in 15-20 minutes.
I was enjoying some Sade in the cold SF air through my Apple wired headset (where t.h. are my S5i?) when he showed up with a flatbed. He was gonna put my car on the flatbed, park it at his facility overnight so it's off the street, and drive it to the shop in the morning. Nice guy. He even drove me up the block to my place so I could take the two strollers and two car seats from the car to the apartment. Then the car went away, perhaps for the last time. I guess we'll see.
While I was unloading the kiddie gear from the truck, my neighbor pulled up with her boyfriend and disappeared into the garage, after watching me empty my car. When I entered our building from the sidewalk, I ran into them in the hallway. I politely declined their help, but after going back and forth a few times about it, the boyfriend just picked up the two strollers and carried them up the stairs, freeing my hands to take the two car seats upstairs. I thanked them wearily, probably (unintentionally) not sounding too friendly, and bid them good night. I skipped the opportunity to tell them what I had just gone through.
I had a tough day before seeing my car last night. Then it went from tough to really bad. But I have to say that everyone I spoke to, since finding my car practically destroyed, has been really nice. Made me feel pretty good about having to go through some bad stuff.
Thanks for reading, everyone
- Lurk
Last night I decided to move the car, which was one square block away, because a space opened up across the street from my apartment and if I parked there I could keep an eye on it. And I'd be free of the street sweeper until Tuesday.
Where I had left my car, there was enough space in front of it for a car to park, and a few times I had seen cars parked in front of it. So I thought it was extremely weird to see my car last night, in the streetlight, all the way at the end of the block. And pointed very slightly away from the curb. As I approached it, I was asking myself how someone could move it. Lift it? Tow it? Push it with their car? There wasn't a note or a ticket or anything else on the windshield.
Someone pushed it. While colliding with it. The rear left corner of the car was a sad combination of pushed in and missing, up to the fuel hatch. The impact seems to have occurred above center mass of the bumper, so it must have been a truck or SUV. The trunk lid was lifted slightly up, but still latched. The rear bumper had separated not only on the left but along the whole width of the car. The rear left wheel well was deformed, and there was trim touching the tire. The right rear wheel had dug into the curb pretty hard. I was going to move my car, so after inspecting the interior of the cabin and the trunk, and clearing the wheel well so nothing was touching the tire, I figured I could just move the car and then deal with insurance. The wheel looked fine. I was thinking it was only some body damage.
I made a U-turn and began to go down the block. I could feel and hear some resistance at the rear left wheel. It was turning against something. I got out and checked, and it didn't look any different, but clearly there was some additional damage that I hadn't been able to assess. The car was still drivable, albeit not wholly, so I thought I should just get it parked and then start worrying.
I made the right turn onto the street where I was intending to park. The drive immediately got worse. Again I got out to look; the left wheel was at a really bad negative camber, and apparently was no longer turning but rather dragging along. It was at this point that I called the police.
The police station is three blocks from where I was stranded. They showed up quickly (but not before someone took the parking space that I had wanted). They repeatedly made it very clear that there was nothing they could do for me with regards to law enforcement, but after I told them that's not the kind of help I needed they became very helpful. Because they've seen a few situations like this compared to my complete lack of experience with a disabled vehicle, they were able to help me figure out the order in which I should be making phone calls: insurance first, get the insurance provider to recommend a shop and a tow service, and then optionally get a police report. They offered that the police do not require a report, nor would the insurance company in all likelihood, because there is not another person involved who can accept or defer fault.
They were very sympathetic and extremely nice. One of them made the comment that when they meet someone normal, they almost don't know what to say. For this reason they were very generous with advice and anecdotes. For example, they are accustomed to using the push bars on their squad car to assist civilians with disabled vehicles like mine, but after someone sued them for using their push bars, the bars have since been removed. They wanted really badly to push my car, but sadly that wasn't an option, and hence the torrent of alternative helpfulness.
Despite my best friend being in the SFPD, I don't like cops and he knows this. He knows not to take it personally, because a) he knows the kind of experiences I've had, and b) he's seen his share of bad cops. I was expecting the two officers who assisted me to be judgmental or even rude. They were quite the opposite. It made me wonder because I the neighborhood I live in has got to be cake compared to some other areas of San Francisco, but they made it seem as if though my car problem was the best call they ever got.
They offered to light some road flares, joking that without the flares someone might wreck the front of the car. They surmised that the car was totaled and that I'd likely be covered for the purchase of another vehicle, so I didn't care either way, especially since they assured me that since they patrol the area, they'd be checking on the car frequently while I went home and called for a tow. They lit the flares, and I thanked them and walked up the block to my apartment.
Calling the insurance company was painless too, notwithstanding my own personal fog, fatigue, and general lack of comprehension at 1:30am. The insurance representative was skeptical that the car was in fact totaled, but smartly deferred to the claims handler who should be calling me today or tomorrow. In the meantime, I was recommended a couple of shops that would store and inspect the car free of charge since they were contracted with the insurance provider. I called one of them, got the number for a towing service from the shop's after-hours voicemail greeting (also free or else billed to the insurance), and within about 40 minutes the car was off to the shop.
The tow operator was really nice. Apparently I woke him up, and he said the trucks were locked up and he could get to me in the morning. At some point in the conversation he changed his mind, and said he'd show up in 15-20 minutes.
I was enjoying some Sade in the cold SF air through my Apple wired headset (where t.h. are my S5i?) when he showed up with a flatbed. He was gonna put my car on the flatbed, park it at his facility overnight so it's off the street, and drive it to the shop in the morning. Nice guy. He even drove me up the block to my place so I could take the two strollers and two car seats from the car to the apartment. Then the car went away, perhaps for the last time. I guess we'll see.
While I was unloading the kiddie gear from the truck, my neighbor pulled up with her boyfriend and disappeared into the garage, after watching me empty my car. When I entered our building from the sidewalk, I ran into them in the hallway. I politely declined their help, but after going back and forth a few times about it, the boyfriend just picked up the two strollers and carried them up the stairs, freeing my hands to take the two car seats upstairs. I thanked them wearily, probably (unintentionally) not sounding too friendly, and bid them good night. I skipped the opportunity to tell them what I had just gone through.
I had a tough day before seeing my car last night. Then it went from tough to really bad. But I have to say that everyone I spoke to, since finding my car practically destroyed, has been really nice. Made me feel pretty good about having to go through some bad stuff.
Thanks for reading, everyone
- Lurk
