[VNair]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Sorry state of affairs on issuing Driving Licenses. She should get herself enrolled in a driving school. Absolutely not fit to drive on road given the way she is trying to take out the car in a parking lot.

Commendable patience by OP

I agree to this 100%. Driving tests need to be more rigorous. Considering that the licensing system in Kerala is a bit more stringent comparatively, I know folks in my own family who have passed it and can't even drive in a open ground safely.

Considering that new drivers do panic, but its better to ask for help unless you are comfortable with the wheel.

Appreciate the patience shown!

[asingh1977]

@OP:
Your patience and understanding is commendable in such a situation.
When learning (even via a school), first couple of months person should always be escorted--with hand on parking break. Imagine if a living entity had been standing there. Many times it is obvious on our roads "to see a learner"; alone. It is sad, and a bomb waiting to explode.

[steadfast]

Lady was very lucky since it was damage just to PPF. If it was body hit then damages would have been around 1 L.

[TDCi4Life]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Well she most definitely deserved to pay the full 18k and also should give away the car for free because with those kind of skills, there is really LONG way to go before she should get behind the wheels without supervision!

I really don’t care how apologetic she was, the mistake was extremely stupid and completely unbecoming even for a novice driver. That situation is probably Level 0 - an extremely basic 3-point turn with acres of space around.

I’m of the opinion that we should stop cutting slack to such drivers and only then we’ll see the conditions on our roads to improve. If she’s still learning, she has no business being in that car alone without supervision. Period.

Let’s not give praises where it is not deserved. I really hope OP gives a true feedback and asks the lady to go and get her basics right.

Well said. Good to see the issue handled by both parties amicably. However, our mindset of turning into a white knights, especially when it comes to treating incidents based on gender is archaic, obnoxious and counter-productive. There is no room for peddling chivalry in situations that involve any kind of monetary impact on someone (irrespective of the gender of any party).

[am1m]

Amazingly well handled by both parties! Loved this post, thank you, we need more such great examples of civilized behavior on our streets- god knows they are few and far between.

Having said that, why do people insist on buying cars and trying to drive them alone before learning to drive? Have seen this far too often- several colleagues buy cars and then say they will learn. One of my colleagues bought a brand new car, full payment, got a couple of lessons from his 'uncle'. Inevitable accident in a couple of weeks. Learn first, get license, then drive unsupervised.

[RunGaDa]

Wrong technique for reversing. The number of attempts made, did not correct, not having idea of dimensions of the (small) car, in a hurry. All the keywords.
Heartening to see someone accept by own. High points for that.

Sorry for the damage to the car, it has happened to my car in the past. Parking lots are where one must use utmost caution.

[vvivek85]

With due respect to the lady, I feel she needs to go to driving school to learn the basics or driving. The reason I call out basics, she didn't even realize without any change in direction the car would head in the same direction. Had she hit the car in the first instance, we could say it to be a calculative error, but she was trying 3 to 4 times without changing direction, by that time she should have realized she is doing something wrong and tried differently. Instead, she proceeded with the same and hit the car. I can understand she is a newbie, what if it was a kid instead of the car? She should thank her stars.

[momsonlydriver]

I appreciated how professionally you handled this situation. Despite this being an expensive mistake made by the lady, you made sure not to traumatise her with your reaction. Respect

[adi58]

This does not appear to be an accident at all after watching the video. This is blatant carelessness. If a person is not qualified or fit to drive a vehicle, they should not do so! She may run someone over!

[A350XWB]

Ouch! That is not a good thing to happen to any car. But kudos to both parties for handling it in an amicable way.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Sorry state of affairs on issuing Driving Licenses. She should get herself enrolled in a driving school. Absolutely not fit to drive on road given the way she is trying to take out the car in a parking lot.
Commendable patience by OP

Absolutely. I was thinking on the same lines and the driver (a he or a she, doesn't matter), with those skills will be driving on public roads also. Lucky that it was a car in the parking lot. Imagine if it was on the road and in place of the car, it was a two-wheeler or a pedestrian. I don't know whether the driver has a valid license or still learning. There is a reason why law insists that there has to be a qualified driver sitting on the left hand seat when somebody is driving with their learner's license. But in our country, the quality of people having valid driving license is also questionable.

[masterChief007]

Kudos to OP for keeping it cool !! But the lady forgot to apply her mind in visualizing how the car is supposed to behave, constantly backing and going ahead in the same arc !!

I remember when I learnt driving I would spend hours when not driving thinking of situations and how to visualize to apply appropriate control inputs to achieve a goal. So in my mind I would simulate hill start/stop, parking overtaking maneuvers even when not in the car.

Just a tidbit from my personal experience, once I stalled my bullet in a steep slope in an offroadish road (broken tarmac etc), as I had visualized this i had a quick solution of being perpendicular to the slope with the non kick foot on the lower side and kick started and sailed through within seconds of the stall, had I not thought through this, I would have had a fall at the least. Later when I learnt skiing, I was pleasantly surprised that there too a similar technique is used when getting up

Many new drivers/riders should be in this habit of visualizing situations when not in their vehicles. And driving tests should have a set of these tests instead of taking simple U turns etc.

[VaibhaoT]

Really unfortunate that this incident happened. I really appreciate how Rachet handled whole situation.

My wife is also learning. She has completed her driving school classes. I don't think driving will focus a lot on the reversing and parking. My wife don't drive alone and I am always with her helping with small nuances. I can relate to the situation in which driver was in. Frankly if she has any experienced driver in her family, she should have got help till she gets full confidence, which could have easily avoided this situation.

Sorry to say, but I feel some of the post are over critical towards driver and that too on International Women' Day. I personally feel we should be more supportive in situation like this than be critical.

[Cresterk]

That was quite the shunt. Surprised that the damage was so small. From the pictures I figured she might have just scraped by in a congested parking lot but from the video, she straight up rammed into your car.

[100Kmphormore]

Great job handling the situation Rachet. Another case is when people who know to drive in a different class of car (SUV) try to drive another (sedans) and the accident happens. I had a close call with my brother nearly doing the same. He drives our Scorpio and took my aunts City for a drive, he had seen me do a launch, wheelspin etc and wanted to try the same. I told him that until he learns the dimensions of the car, he will not be doing so. On a small town road, proceeding in a pileup, while a Superb in the front suddenly brakes thanks to an errant passenger running across the road. my brother not being aware of the low bonnet of the 3rd gen City, braked so close to the Superb that the guy immediately came out thinking we had hit him. He went off in a huff after seeing we had not touched him. My brother has never driven a sedan on a traffic laden stretch ever since.

[purohitanuj]

Glad the end result was just minor scratches on plastic parts.
I might sound harsh, but she shouldn’t be allowed to drive. Obviously she does not know how to reverse and only god know what else skill is missing. Glad it was a small hit, within the confines of parking area. What if she was out on open roads and high speeds and she had to do some evasive manoeuvre? God help us from such drivers.