Got called a f-ing b*tch today (parking related)

[Kitkat189]

I guess I’m just venting as this was a bit upsetting.

narrow garden square, resident parking on both sides of the road. Usually the right hand side of the road leading out of the square is left empty as 99% of the time us residents always find a space on the left hand side, and it’s so narrow that SUVs and delivery vans struggle a bit. At the moment there are suspensions in place in a part of the square, so every now and then we have to park on the right hand side.

That’s what happened today: I had just parked and was gathering my things and my daughter when I noticed a range Rover approaching, he stopped a few metres back so I approached to ask if he was struggling to get past us. I offered to move my car a bit closer to the garden fence for him, even if I was within the line and even if that means I have to climb out on the passenger side to exit my car. I had only just about finished moving my car when he starts squeezing past - there’s a crunch: he drove into my car. He reversed; I climbed out through the passenger door and approached him. I said he just drove into me, he said he has a camera that filmed it all and he didn’t. I replied that it’s good that he filmed it all as it will show the whole sequence of events. He then called me a bitch several times, and finished it off with f-ing bitch, all this in front of my daughter.

The whole situation felt very hostile so I locked the car and just left to go into my house. I was calm throughout all of this, particularly as I had my daughter with me and did not want things to escalate in front of her.

I called the police for advice as we didn’t exchange details due to the hostility of the moment. As a side note they misheard me when I described the incident and thought I’d been called a slur, and said they’d send a car over immediately as the man was still there, busy reversing to exit the other way. When I corrected them to say that the man called me a f-ing bitch and nothing else they said oh ok then just contact your insurance. I’m not clear on the legal side of this, is that because none of this is considered a slur? But an actual slur would somehow have been cause for possible intervention?

So a man hit your car, denied it and called you a name in anger.

You can say fucking and bitch here, we are all grown ups (we'll most of us)

Did you make a note of his numberplate. You should have been able to report for leaving the site of an accident.

It sounds like you parked dangerously so nobody could get through.

Sorry that happened to you. The man in question sounded very aggressive, really not acceptable behaviour, especially in front inf a child. Well done for keeping your cool, and hope it gets sorted!

He should not have sworn.

It sounds like that you did not park in an appropriate place if vehicles are forced to squeeze through, rather than being able to drive through unimpeded.

I dontbreally understand your description of the parking. Ultimately it sounds like your parking made it difficult for vehicles to use the road. He shouldn't have hit your car or name called. Maybe just find somewhere more appropriate to park.

Right please correct me if I'm wrong @Kitkat189 but you parked in a way that caused an obstruction in such a way that your car was parked right up against a fence so completely blocking the pavement whilst simultanusly blocking the road for other vehicles therefore causing the crash and endangering pedestrians and you wonder why he was swearing at you

The way you were parked doesn't sound good, and it's not how I would.

However, that doesn't excuse his behaviour toward you, nor driving into a stationary vehicle.

Ideally you would have got a shot of his number plate. Without that I doubt the police will be able prioritise it.

OP clearly describes a situation where there is parking on both sides of the road.

It’s a garden square- I assume that there is no pavement between the fence and the road. She parked in a legitimate parking space next to the fence and an asshole drove into her car.

We probably need a diagram OP.

But to answer your question, yes the calling you a racist slur would have potentially been a criminal offence but a minor accidental collision is a civil matter. Presumably they checked that you did not still feel threatened?

Worst diagram ever! Green is the garden in the middle of our square. Yellow shows resident parking bays (all occupied at the time), red is my car and purple is his car.

He was back in our square tonight, parked diagonally and way outside of the line at the entrance to the square. It looked like he was running an errand so my husband kept an eye on the car and went out to talk to him when he returned. First he said he has never been to our square before but we had pictures from yesterday. Then he said that I was in his way, dh showed how I was parked well within the lines and also moved even closer to the garden to give him more room, and asked why he insulted me. The man just rolled his window up and left.

we have a scratch on our door but are considering just leaving it. Extremely unpleasant man, you get these really bad vibes from him, so somehow it doesn’t feel worth it to pursue this. Our car is old and not fancy anyway.

I am glad that dh spoke to him as it will feel better should I ever bump into this guy again - hope not.

Im confused as to if you were in a parking space or not but he shouldn’t have driven into your car. But also don’t block the road.

There are bays on both sides of the road and while it can be a bit tight, it’s perfectly possible to get out of the square if you’re careful. Even delivery vans get it done as long as cars on both sides are actually inside of the lines

No pavement on the garden side.

This sums it up perfectly. Thanks for helping me clarify!

He has left the scene of an accident without leaving his details.
you need to report this and take your details to your nearest open police station and make a report - they will pass it on to their collision (or whatever its called) admin. The rest is for insurance companies.

I genuinely don’t think it’s worth the stress if your husband has been out and had a word.

That driver will do it again to someone more vile than he is, and he will get his karma.

If you aren’t bothered by the scratch I’d suggest letting it go and not letting this affect you any longer. Insurance etc will be the biggest pain.

I'm not surprised you get bad vibes off this excuse of a man, OP. He's a foul-mouthed bully (to women), a liar, and a coward (when challenged by men). It sounds like you and your DH behaved perfectly reasonably and hopefully you won't encounter this rude pig again.

You don't have to "pursue" anything or deal with this man personally again. You just let your insurers deal with it. And as pp have said report to police as he failed to leave his details.

Well done that DH!

If he’s not able to drive a big car without crashing into other cars and then swearing at them, perhaps he should buy a smaller car.

Is there enough room for large emergency services vehicles to get through? It seems a poor set up to larger vehicles struggle through.

I’m not clear on the legal side of this, is that because none of this is considered a slur? But an actual slur would somehow have been cause for possible intervention

If he’d called you a racial slur or one based on perceived sexuality, for example, they could have taken action. Just being horrible and sweary? Not so much.

I hope karma bites him in the bollocks.

I don’t know where you are getting that from as OP said she was parked in the lines. Some people just have terrible visual spacial awareness. There’s never any excuse for driving into a stationary car anyway.

Exactly what I was thinking!

Of course it was a bloody Range Rover! We live in a small crowded city with mostly on street parking (you know, as opposed to most Mumsnetters who all seem to live in 5 bed detached houses with huge drives) and we are plagued by idiots in massive Range Rovers constantly getting stuck on narrow roads and expecting everyone else to make way for them. One of them expected me to reverse onto a busy main road for them just last night. And none of them even need the bloody things because they live in a city centre not on fucking farm!

Anyway, if you’ve got photos and his license plate I’d be tempted to take it up with your insurance just to teach the arrogant twat a lesson, OP.