To tell her to piss off

[Neuroillogical]

Apologies in advance for the rant…

In the supermarket with family. DH leaves store to nip across the road in car for extra bits while we finish shop.

He goes to inch out of parking space only to discover random lady was in his blind spot walking to the store with her trolley. Warning sensors beeped - he stopped immediately. Said lady then proceeds to bang on the window and demand he get out and speak to her and a whole shit show of drama ensues.

She claims he ‘touched her hip with car’ and threatens to call police. HIGHLY unlikely for various reasons but DH apologetic anyway/asked if she was ok/does she need anything. DH is a ppl pleaser (unlike me 😌) & being nice only seemed to spur her on. She gives him long lecture about how to drive(he drives for a living). Then demands to see disabled badge b/cos he doesn’t ‘look disabled’. (It was a disabled + parent child bay). Then accuses him of lying about having kids. (DH explains they are in store so she asks to see the car seats!!)

Anyway she starts taking pics of car, number plate (and DH!!!) for ´evidence’. Says she isn’t hurt in any way but she doesn’t feel DH apology is sufficient or sincere. He asks how he can resolve & she says it’s up to him to ´convince her he’s sorry’. Repeatedly threatening to call police. DH offers to call them himself & as soon as he dials she disappears off into the shop. Erm ok.

We reunite & he tells me what happened. By this point DH is shaken (he’s a nervous guy) & starts to worry he is going to be in some sort of trouble if she makes an accusation at a later date. As luck would have it we bump into her later at the exit & she is with a manager. She starts CRYING & saying she needs to be escorted to her car b/cos she was run over & is scared of DH. WTH!!

My thoughts-

1. She’s a drama queen
2. Even if and it’s a big IF DH brushed her with car(more likely she was startled) she is equally responsible for walking in a cars blind spot in the dark in the middle of a car park (and not on the designated walkway). also it’s an SUV and she was about 5 ft 2 on a good day
3. She wasn’t hurt so should have accepted apology and left it. If she was so tramautised & outraged she would have called police -not done her weekly shop after
4. She is outrageous for demanding proof of disability/children. It’s irrelevant and rude. (Ironically all our children and myself are actually disabled). She is neither the owner of the car park or J.Sainsbury.
5. she is a chancer who I suspect was hoping for an offer of cash or something similar (which is also why I think she complained to manager) Gift card anyone??

Anyway, I got tired of seeing DH grovelling to her so I may/may not have told her where to stick her trolley. 😏

Interested to know how other people would have handled it..

I had this a couple of years ago, screaming and shouting that I had purposely run her over, despite the fact that I hadn’t and she has walked behind my car when I was reversing into a space rather than wait 30 seconds. She phoned the police and told them I’d run her over so they attended fairly quickly, I showed them my dash cam which very clearly showed her walking into the parking spot I was reversing into, me stopping and her started to hit and kick my car.

Some people love causing drama in public.

She sounds like a massive pain in the arse but I agree with pp that she’s not responsible re the blind spot. What if it was a child who had run out on to the road?

Would have been less drama if he had run her over

I don’t want to derail on a small point but do single disable/child spaces exist? Is this in the UK?

I think she sounds a bit dramatic and possible a chancer but drivers are responsible for looking at blind spots.

My DH is a very gentle guy and would’ve apologised profusely too - it winds me up and makes me ruder than I think I would normally be! Do you have a dash-cam?

I’m afraid I would’ve been extremely rude to her, would’ve taken her photo on my phone (mainly just to piss her off more) called her a Karen, and left.

There’s literally nothing she can do. Worst case scenario she contacts the police. So what? Where’s her evidence? It’s your husband’s word against hers. The police wouldn’t even entertain her - total waste of their time.

sounds like shes after some compo-claming to the staff somsones hit her withtheir car?

were there any other witnesses op just be prepared

I don't mean this in a hostile way but your DH sounds a bit like a fart in a trance! He was shaken!? Is he always so delicate? She stepped out behind a reversing vehicle! He just needed to tell her to piss off..... 🤷🏼‍♀️

Certainly isn't her that sounds like a bully...

I'm not surprised she was shaken and upset if the car hit her, even very lightly. It sounds like your DH got off lightly considering.

Yes and he is in charge of his car, he could have knocked a child or dog over

She's a chancer

Oh Dear

I don't entirely agree with this, she should also be looking where she's going (only because people are such bad drivers)

It is 100% on the driver to check before pulling out
Yabu

That's an enormous one-sided story that you've heard second hand and then repeated, so obviously we get it third hand.

She does sound a little unstable though.

Was nothing to do with you. Presumably your dh is a grown adult. Let him handle it.

You may not have been unreasonable to tell her to piss off due to her behaviour, but YABU to assume that she is responsible for your DH not seeing her. Irrespective of her height or darkness, it is the responsibility of the driver if a vehicle to know the space is clear before proceeding to move. As a driver, I know this is difficult and even that sometimes pedestrians walk as if they are invincible, but that doesn’t mean the driver isn’t responsible. You shouldn’t hit someone in your blind spot because the areas you can see should be checked carefully enough for long enough for you to know the blind spot is clear.

I've never heard of a joint parent and child and disabled space. They're different widths usually so that is quite unusual

Totally made up BS.

'Sep 28, 2022, Around 430 pedestrians are killed on British roads every year'.

Typical SUV drivers think they own the road. Your husband should not be maneuvering out of a pedestrian-heavy space. He should be aware of his blind spots at all times. Human beings especially children behave in unpredictable ways and he should know that if he is a professional driver. The poor woman was probably shaken seeing that 'bus' reversing towards her.

You sound more entitled and arrogant than him.

Yabu blaming her height and where she walked. The onus is on the driver to be vigilant.

Equally she could be "dramatic" had your DH dashcam? Is there cctv?

So because she was short she's to blame? This is why I detest SUVs and avoid walking behind them. Imagine if it had been a child?

‘Your husband should not be manoeuvring out of a pedestrian heavy space.’

What? A car park? Cars don’t just materialise into the spaces, they have to be driven in and out…

Maybe she was someone quite isolated and lonely and the near miss with the car shook her up and she was in a state of shock. I could imagine she may have gone into the store and told the manager her story because of a need for sympathy while distressed, wanting someone to treat her kindly. Agree that she sounded unreasonable in her demands to OP's DH, but it sounds like someone upset by an unexpected circumstance.

Sounds like she had a screw loose. This is one of my pet hates. I swear I think people in our town rush to stand/walk behind you when you start to reverse into a space.