HOLY SHIT! I HIT AN OLD MAN TODAY! (And it wasn't my fault either!)

Normally I don't make posts that directly focus on single events that have occured in my life. If I ever relay a personal annecdote, it's usually to make some broader point. Well, not today. Today I'm pulling a livejournal and spouting in full about an actual event that has occured, however, I will spare you the usual self-pitying commentary that follows the typical livejournal entry.

It all began as innocuously as you could imagine. My brother and I had just left the house in my recently aquired Honda Civic Si (my baby as of late) to head over to Circuit City in Concord with the goal of finding a birthday present for my dad. Before we left town, however, I needed to drop off some DVDs at Blockbuster. Mission accomplished, DVD's delivered, we began to head out of the shopping center parking lot.

In said parking lot there is an intersection that occurs just before you reach the main road. At this intersection, the road crossing mine has stop signs, while the one I was on doesn't, so I was free to roll through without stopping like I've done a million times before.

Well, this old guy who had just stopped at the crossing street apparently didn't notice I was there and began to roll on through, just as I was entering the intersection. I slammed on the breaks, but to no avail. With a screaching of tires and that classic colliding-vehicle crunch noise, the front of my car went into his Mercedes' driver side door at about 15 miles per hour.

Here's where it really gets interesting. You know how people usually pull over immediately after an accident and exchange the necessary information? Well, this guy didn't. With a bewildered look on his face, he just kept rolling through the crossing at about the same speed he was before, as if nothing had happened! He didn't gun it or anything, he just kept moving right along as though he hadn't experienced the abrupt jarring impact which had left a large metal crater in the side of his car. In fact, for about 2 seconds, his seemingly nonchalant approach to the whole situation left me wondering if there had been any accident! But upon quickly observing the mangled side of his gradually receding vehicle, I reaffirmed that an accident had in fact just happened.

Still, for about 10 seconds my brother and I sat in the middle of the intersection growing more amazed as we came to realize he wasn't pulling over, and quickly resolved to chase after him. He continued casually through the shopping center, and we caught up with him fairly easily, without having to drive at unsafe speeds. But he kept going! Eventually, we were turning back out onto a major street.

We stopped behind him at a red light. "YOU HIT US, YOU HAVE TO PULL OVER!" my brother yelled out the window. As the light turned green and he made a left turn, we realized this wasn't going to happen.

And this is where I got my chance to be Steve McQueen for about 10 seconds. The old man, having just turned on to the main road through town, was nearing an area where the two lane street merged into one. I only had a few moments to move along side him and try to get the message across. I dropped it into second and, unleashing the Japanese fury of 160 horses of raw rice rocket power, swooped around to pace him from his left side. Once again, my brother yelled out the window for him to pull over. This time, a look of realization appeared on his face (or was it grudging acceptance?) and at last he complied.

So we're at last pulled over, and we get out of my car and approach his. He rolls his window down about half way and says something along the lines of, "I stop and look both ways, I don't see you!" First, I notice he's got an accent, Eastern European I think. This is just great, not only is this guy old and confused, but his English isn't all that wonderful either. Second, I notice that with the way he's saying this, he means to imply it's not his fault. I tell him, calmly, that we need to exchange liscences, insurance info, and phone numbers etc, and he repeats the same thing again, still not getting out of his car. I didn't bother to ask him why he didn't stop, because I got the distinct impression it was because he was just a confused old man. In retrospect, who knows?

Ben was beginning to get pissed, and I was beginning to feel a sense of dismay regarding the whole situation, when a cop rolls by. Thank you Jesus! I'd never been so happy to see a cop in my life. We flagged him down.

We described the whole situation to the cop, and after the old man finally got out of his car as per the officer's request, he didn't seem to contest what happened. Even so, the guy kept insisting that he'd "Looked both ways" as though this exonerated him of fault, when fault was clearly his. He also kept mentioning how we "came out of nowhere," as though I'd negligently forgotten to turn off my Honda's cloaking device or something.

Since we couldn't officially agree on who's fault it was (though everyone present except for the old man knew it was his), the cop had to write a police report describing what happened, and it was clear that it would be in our favor. As for the damage, nobody was hurt, even slightly, which was good. My car, up until then in excellent condition, now sports a mangled bumper, a bent grill, and somehow, due to complex forces of impact I can't hope to understand, a nice big spider web of a crack in the windshield. Oh well. At least that guy's insurance will pay for it. I hope.

In brighter news, my family just got a puppy. His name is Duncan.