Hate for parking lots - wife's car badly damaged.

First thing first: Nobody was hurt.

So a car failed to stop and yield the right of way in a parking lot tonight and hit my wife's car. We were driving down a travel lane (no parking spots in it) and somebody entered it from the parking area without stopping, looking or anything. Physics ensued.

The damage extends from the rear-most portion of the fender through both doors and onto the rear wheel. The door frames are a bit bent. The hit wasn't at much speed, but we were moving and really didn't see the car coming until it pretty much hit us, so we continued to travel through the impact.

I think some people just assume that the regular rules of the road stop once they enter a parking lot or they reduce their level of alertness.

Glad to hear everyone was OK.

Glad everyone's okay but, yeah, people can be idiots in parking lots. Actually, people can be idiots pretty much anywhere.

Parking lots suck. The LEAF got hit at one while I was in a store not too long ago.

A few weeks we were all walking through a lot, when I said to the kids "you have to be really careful in parking lots, these lines mean nothing to some people."

As we stood there looking, I pointed and showed a car going through the parking aisles, one after the other, without stopping, until finally driving into a space like 8 aisles from where they started.

"See? like that guy"

Sounds like exactly what happened to you, but I was watching from the sidewalk.

I hope their insurance covers it, mine was a hit and run.

That sucks man, I'm glad no one was hurt. That's what the other persons insurance is for though.

In reply to tuna55:

I have never seen more people do this until I moved to West Virginia. It drives me insane (no pun intended).

My LS400 was hit while parked in a parking lot BY A "MOTOR SWEEPER" PIECE OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT. The "operator" told his boss that he got confused on which way it went when he move the lever.

The only time my Cavalier had to be towed was after being hit in a parking lot. Whoever hit it broke the headlight, bumper, radiator and fan shroud and took off.

Glad everyone is good. Two nights ago I got the finger from a person cutting diagonally across empty parking spaces shielded by parked cars who almost hit my car as I was going down the lane where you are supposed to be driving.

The older I get the more I realize how many people have no clue.

My Father's G/f is that way.. she will dart between parked cars and speed across parking lots.. but then again, that is not that far from how she drives on the road. We are both thankful that she A: drives a Volvo. B: turbo in Volvo died so it is as slow as molasses.

Also to note.. over a hear ago I was hit as a pedestrian in a parking lot. No long term damage to me, but it really makes me nervous to walk across one

My Miata is at the paint shop right now after being backed into in a parking lot. At least the guy who backed into it left a note and paid for repairs. Glad everyone is OK. I've seen some incredibly stupid things done by people driving in a parking lot. It's like they assume they're the only car there.

Yeah and most of the idiots that do this stuff will take off if you are not there.

See my thread about my wife's Explorer getting hit last winter.

So, sounds like someone cutting across parking lanes instead of following the paths.

I have such a mental block against doing that, that I can't autocross.

Corner of Spring Forest and Falls of Neuse. Where bad southern and northern drivers collide.

I really miss eating at the greek joint in the corner (Taza).

I hate parking lots.

I basically pull in and park as close to the entrance of the parking lot as possible, bonus is no one parks out there so I usually don't get door dinged.

Scottah wrote: I really miss eating at the greek joint in the corner (Taza).

We had just finished eating at Taza. Great place.

I talked to USAA today. They didn't even make me record a statement as they had talked to the other driver who admitted all fault. While we were waiting for the police to arrive her mother and father came out, yelled at her. Maybe they are using this incident as a life lesson on why you always pay attention.

I really like the mongolian grill at that intersection. I will have to try Taza.

I hate driving through parking lots for that very reason. I've seen drivers cutting perpendicular to the travel lanes doing 40 mph. That's scary. I always try to be vigilant when I'm in a parking lot, but a jackass doing something like that can come out of nowhere in an instant. Glad everyone is OK.

You mean Kamado Grille, Mojo? We've not tried that, yet.

We're getting an estimate on Tuesday. I am really hoping that the car isn't totaled. This is the first new car we ever bought, and I'd been burning through the payments and had gotten a fair bit ahead. I don't want to have to start over, and my wife doesn't like the new Mazda6 as much as this one. If it isn't totaled, I'll be pursuing a diminished value claim.

Sucks man I hope they give you a good deal on the car.

I was run into by a ls400 once. I was walking from sidewalk to the parking lanes across a driving lane. Saw her pull to the end of the lane to my left and stop. Then was surprised that she started to turn left, figured she was trying to cut right behind me. But she turned sharply and I actually tried to jump up on the hood, which worked as I just rolled on the hood and fender and landed back on my feet. Driver slowed for minute then just drove away.

There seems to be a mentality that the driving lane should yield to those who are trying to exit parking lanes. Not sure why people think that.

Some of the stories here reinforce something I have observed, which is a mentality that things that happen in parking lots don't count. I have watched people repeatedly ram other people's cars before managing to finally get into the normal size space they are inexplicably unable to pull into. Finally, they park, just get out and walk away to do whatever shopping they want to do as if they hadn't spent the last three minutes cause massive damage. I have also been a victim of this. I walked out of the grocery store recently to discover the rear passenger door on my sedan deeply creased with some associated black streaks on the paint. A piece of E36 M3 full size black truck was parked very crooked, and half out of a space next to me. I doubt it was a coincidence.

I had a similar thing happen to me once. Driving my mustang through a parking lot and had a girl back out into the side of my car as I cruised by. I also didn't see it and drove through the impact. There had been like 20 empty spaces in a row from where I turned in to where she was parked. She just didn't even look. I hated that car and really wanted them to total it but I was $500-$1k of damage shy.

parking lots are terrifying. People will go 20-25 past rows of parked cars that you can't always see around

My two youngest kids, 7 and 5, sometimes get mad when we make them hold mine or my wife's hands when we are in parking lots but it is scary for us knowing how people drive.

Yeah, good luck with the diminished value thing, especially on a "pedestrian" car like a Mazda 6. I pursued a diminished value claim on my (at the time) 2-year-old Mustang and got nowhere with it. You have to go directly to the other person's insurance (USAA will not help you; they didn't help me), and no one at the other insurance company will return your call.

The damage estimate is just over 25% of the value of the car. It looks like it might wind up with a branded title, I might have to start looking into diminished value claims as I thought.

I've done a diminished value claim before. Persistence is key, litigation is a possibility as well. I look at it this way, if I spend 20 hours and get $1000 back, I've gotten about $50/hour for my time.