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ONE OF THE biggest health risks seniors face recently happened to me. I tripped in a parking lot and fell. It was a pretty serious fall. I hurt my left shoulder, left wrist, right elbow and right knee. There was a lot of scraping on the asphalt and lots of blood. To add insult to injury, the left side of my head hit the right taillight of a Subaru, smashing the lens and running a nice pair of sunglasses.
Ironically, I had my yearly Medicare wellness visit with my new primary doctor the next morning. Instead of a wellness check, my doctor did a thorough physical, including x-rays of my right knee. The radiologist was concerned about a couple of areas, so my primary contacted the orthopedic surgeon who did my knee replacement, and I had an appointment with him in 2 days. He said the implant was fine, but I had some nasty contusions. The good news, there was no permanent damage and I’m pretty much off the injured reserve list. There is still a little elbow and knee tenderness.
The final injury was financial. The fall took place in a very public parking lot in downtown Red Bank, NJ. Many people came to my aid, brought water and napkins to staunch the blood. My wife did a great job of cleaning me up and getting me on my feet. But no one claimed ownership of the damaged car.
Once Vicky was sure I was OK she asked if we should leave a note on the car. I immediately agreed and she went into the adjacent Irish pub and got a pen and a napkin. She left a note with my name and number on the windshield. A few days later I received a call from Niall, a Limerick native, and the bartender at the pub. It was his car. He was confused how a car accident could only hit a taillight. He was amazed, and very concerned, when I told him it was my head that caused the damage. I told him to get it fixed and I would reimburse him.
A few weeks later Vicky and I stopped in for a late lunch when Niall was working. After he served Vicky a drink, and pulled me a pint, I identified myself and handed him $380. He was amazed that we actually showed up and paid our debt. He called over the manager and introduced us, and remarked to a few regulars at the bar that we were the folks who left the note. People seemed genuinely surprised that we didn’t just walk away from the situation.
Niall refused to take any more for our drinks that day, and told us to be sure we visited often. Making friends with a friendly bartender at the local pub may prove to be a good investment. Here’s my self-serving question to the HumbleDollar community – would you have left a note? I’m betting the vast majority would.
Yes leaving a note was the right thing to do and I would have done the same. This post reminds me of a similar instance in my past work life as a health “cop”. I was working, driving my government car, and my job that day took my to a shopping mall, where I needed to into a nutritional food store to check on the effectiveness of a supplement recall. (Did they receive the recall notification, did they respond appropriately..) When I returned to the car, there was a note on the windshield which read; “I hope this is official government bussiness (SIC)”. I saved that note for years, probably still have it somewhere.
I related my wife’s parking lot incident below. Here’s another car accident story, rather unusual:
A new patient told me she sustained her injuries as a customer in a convenience store. The driver of a car pulling up to the store failed to stop, and crashed into the building, pushing some debris into my patient. She said he was “drunk and obnoxious”.
Maybe a week later, another new patient said he incurred his injuries while driving his car into a convenience store. He was not intoxicated in my presence, but his personality was a little grating. I connected the dots. After he left, I told the front office to never schedule those two at the same time.
Rick, I’m glad you survived that incident. Back in my beer truck driving days I put a bit of my paint on someone’s bumper while negotiating a tight parking lot. I left a note on the car, and I stopped in at the small town police department across the street to alert them. They took my info and thanked me. I never heard back from car’s owner.
Leaving the note was a good thing to do. However, I would like to offer another possibility about how this might have turned out differently. It seems quite possible to me that the owner of the parking lot might be responsible both for your injuries, and for the damage to the car. The vast majority of commercial property owners carry liability insurance. Slip and fall claims caused by tripping hazards are very, very common. And while most of us who fall (I have done so at least 5 times) don’t want to make a fuss about such incidents, acknowledging our own declining physical abilities, it isn’t always our fault when we fall. I would be willing to bet that others before you have fallen at the exact same spot. It is often cheaper for the property owner to pay for the costs of the falls rather than fix the hazard. So your note could have contained the same info about yourself, with a comment that you would be discussing your injury with the lot owner and if it turned out to be your fault you would reimburse the car owner for his broken light. I think it more likely that the lot owner would cover the damage…..
It happened aging recently. A month ago we were experiencing vey high winds. My wife parked at a local Target and as she exited the car th wind took her door and it took out the passenger side nitro of an Acura She went into the store and got a manager to make a stop announcement, The owner came to the front and went out with my wife to see the damage,. They exchange insurance information. We had a small dent in the driver’s front door which cost us the $500 deductible to repair. Luckily there were no injuries this time.
Rick, you and your wife have a strong moral compass. You’re a Stand-Up guy
who is honest and straightforward.
Well done, Vicky and Rick.
I lived in NJ for 12 years starting in 1991 and I always found the people warm, friendly and willing to help. But they also always took the view that the world is a bleak place, someone is out to take advantage of them. (Clearly those people have visited the Randolf DMV inspection station.)
You did the right thing, at the right time, in the right place. All people respect that.
Thanks Mark. I have also found the people to be warm and friendly.
Yes, the correct nd ethical thing to do!
Thanks Dave. We agree
On a different take, a few years ago I was rear-ended at a stop light. Didn’t see it coming and I was quite shaken, but not hurt. The local police came and the other driver and I exchanged information. I don’t have collision on this vehicle so the expense was going to be on me, or the person who hit me.
The other driver was a lady and her young daughter on their way to a doctor appointment and were running late. There wasn’t any damage to her vehicle, nor were they hurt.
I researched what it would cost to fix my vehicle and it was less than $300 dollars. After much thinking, I let the whole matter drop mainly because there are other issues with my vehicle. My heart told me that was the right thing to do.
Olin thanks for contributing. Sounds like you did the right thing.
Good for you. Years ago, I had a lady back into me in a parking lot on a rainy night despite my honking the horn as I saw the crash unfold in slow motion. I ended up getting into lady’s truck with her since it was raining so hard. She was upset and apologetic and begged me not to report it to my insurance company. She said she would pay it herself. Strangely, she did report it to her insurance company and admitted fault-I got a call from them the next day. I agreed to not pursue a claim. She asked that I go through a particular shop, and I got an estimate. Then she ghosted me. I decided to let it drop because I could tell she was a lost soul with personal problems and my Accord was quite old at that point. I’m sure my trade-in value ($1000) was unaffected when I replaced the vehicle a few years later. My only ‘cost’ was driving around with an ugly dent for a few years, and that didn’t really bother me.
These sort of things probably happen more than we know. My vehicle is older than 30 years now and will probably donate it to Kars4Kids or perhaps a technical school that teaches auto mechanics (if they will take it) when I’m done using it.
there’s also an organization http://www.800charitycars that donates cars to people in need after fixing them.
Thanks Margaret for the information! I wasn’t aware of it.
Well done. Of course, you can’t damage someone’s property and walk off. As George Costanza said, “we live in a society here!”
Thanks Ben. There’s always a Seinfeld quote appropriate for any situation!
A couple of years ago we had a small business owner come out to fix something he had done about 5 years earlier. He was going to fix it free “on warranty”, but we were well past the warranty. We corrected him, clarified for him that this wasn’t a warranty job, and said we’d pay for the repair. He appeared quite shocked, got a big smile on his face, and charged us a ridiculously small amount for the repair. I think that experience left all of us with a good feeling that day.
I’ll bet you made his day. Well done.
That is so cool that you left a note and paid for the repair. I have left a note after doing some damage. Thankfully I didn’t use my face to do it! Be careful out there Rick. Hope you’re doing okay.
Thanks Dan.
I ‘d like to think decent people would have left a note though if the damage had been more extensive may have been worth checking home insurance policy etc for any public liability coverage etc (though excess/deductible would need consideration).
Good that it’s paid back in karma and you’ve made a friend in the process.
thanks. If the damage to the car had been more significant I shudder what the damage to my head would have been.
Hi Rick, this is Chris. I am glad you are ok. I would have left a note.
Thanks Chris
Good to hear you are fine.
I have left a note when I damaged a parked car while driving an RV. Insurance settled it.
You have to hope the note is not lost.
Thanks Alex.
Yes I would have left a note. Glad you’re (mostly) OK. Also surprised the damages were only $380. Those lenses are very pricey nowadays.
Thanks Jeff. The car was an older Subaru Impreza. I still remember replacing inexpensive bulbs in taillights!
Yes. If I break it, I pay for it.
I hear lots of sad and interesting accounts of injuries from my physical therapy patients. I’m thankful you could get up and walk away from that one.
Thanks Edmund
I recall a parking lot incident with a twist.When she was pregnant, my wife scraped an SUV with her car while parking for an obstetrician checkup. There was no damage, just a little transfer of color from the paint. Being the honest soul that she is, my wife announced the incident when she entered the waiting room. The owner of the SUV came out in a huff and called the police. The SUV owner pointed out to the officer the large dent in her vehicle that my wife had caused. He in turn pointed out the rust in the dent, indicating the advanced age of the damage. As I recall, the incident was dropped at that point.