While sitting parked in your car, a car next to you opens their door carelessly, hitting your car. What do you do?

While sitting parked in your car, a car next to you opens their door carelessly, hitting your car. What do you do?

Rick Auch, studied at Iowa State University

Answered Dec 3, 2017

This happened to me once. I was sitting in a parking lot in front of a store listening to a song finish on the radio. I didn’t even notice the car pull up next to me, but suddenly I hear a loud “whoomp” and my car rocks violently side to side. Startled and not knowing what happened, I look through my passenger window and see a car with its door open that appears to be touching my car. In the driver’s seat is a man in his mid-30’s with eyes wide, staring at me. Like he just realized that my car was not empty after he carelessly (or purposefully?) slammed his door into mine.

My blood begins to boil, and I start thinking about what I’m going to say once I step out of my car. I owned a pretty crappy car at that time, so it wasn’t so much the fact that I would have a (another) sizeable dent, but the fact that someone could give a door ding with such force. It literally shook me side to side when it happened. I was trying to figure out what he had against me or my car, or if he just did it for kicks. By the look in his eyes I could tell he knew he was in trouble.

I grab my door handle and push it open, and a gust of wind rips the handle out of my hand. My door flies open with such force I thought it might break when it hits the end of its travel. It misses the side of the car parked next to me by less than an inch.

Stunned, and thanking my lucky stars I avoided damaging the much more expensive car next to me, I look back at the man who hit my car. He’s still sitting in his car, wide eyed, with his door still open. Quickly transitioning from angry to ashamed, I grab my door, shut it, give him the flat palm gesture and say “don’t worry about it!”

I did’t even look at the dent, and just walked into the store.

Unrelated, but several years later, I was in my car and the wind took the door out of my wife’s hand. There was nobody in the car she hit, but we left a note under the windshield wiper with my phone number. Later on I got a call and I ended up reporting it to my insurance.

So, to answer your question: that’s what I do.