Trying to Do Better This Time

This morning I was biking to work, having just biked past a side-street when suddenly I heard... crunch! I looked behind me and thought, "Hey, that guy just hit that parked car!"

Ever since being chastised by one of my readers for not stopping when I saw an accident in stop-and-go traffic, and then later being chastised by John for not reporting when an SUV sideswiped me I'd been determined to do better if I had the opportunity again. So I stopped myself and looked back. The car backed up, stopped... moved forward a little, backed up again... then pulled out and started driving away. I wasn't too far away so I turned around and got his license plate number before he went around the block.

I wasn't sure whether to leave info about the accident on the car's windshield, and eventually I decide that getting directly involved with one of the participants isn't the way to go. So I write down the info of the parked vehicle, and call the police to report what I saw. They take down the info and say they'll send someone to the site to leave a message on the car if it's still there.

In retrospect I realize I could have done a few things better. For instance, I didn't notice the state of the license plates of either car. I also didn't get a good look at the driver, although from my vantage point it was difficult to do so. Nor did I note the make or model of the moving car (though I did note its color and that it was a sedan or coupe). Also, the police asked me what parts of the cars impacted each other, and I had noted that without specifically trying to. Overall I feel like I did good.

On the ride home I saw that the parked car had left sometime during the day. So maybe I'll never know what happened. Debbi's car got dinged in a hit-and-run overnight outside my house a few months back, though the damage was cosmetic. It was frustrating, though. I'm glad that the car I saw at least has an official record of the incident now. Maybe it'll help someone some time in the future.

Sure was a weird way to start the day, though. I think this is the first time I've ever called the cops for any reason. Well, maybe I called about a noise problem in Madison once. It felt weird, though, for some reason.