Neighbor ran over my RC Car today.

[Baz]

My take on this is she was speeding and hit something due to careless driving.

What if it was a cat or dog?

She needs to have her ass kicked in my opinion, but I know that's not a practical approach.

Just my opinion....

[island911]

Originally Posted by Baz

My take on this is she was speeding and hit something due to careless driving.

What if it was a cat or dog?

She needs to have her ass kicked in my opinion, but I know that's not a practical approach.

Just my opinion....

Why? Was it a Black Audi Wagon?


heres what the OP said
"She does see that we are driving cars in the road and she stops. My 5 year old was trying to drive it toward the curb and out of the way when she goes before being certain it was clear and runs it right over. She was going fast around the corner so when she came to a halting (not quite screeching) stop she stopped just before the toy."

I have a neighbor who freaks out if anyone drives over 15mph. (posted 25)

[mikester]

It's not a black audi wagon but it is a black acura suv...

I've been away from it for a few hours now and getting out of the house cooled me off.

I certainly don't want her to take 100% responsibility and the way I responded in the moment was basically a knee jerk response to not blow up at someone I genuinely like and know did not intend to do what she did.

I'm sure it will come up eventually but I don't care about the car.

Yes, she did stop but for about a full second. When she stopped the the rc car was directly in front of her car just under the front bumper. Me and the 2 neighborhood kids and my own were a little struck in that second we had to respond that the car wasn't already flat. In that second we hesitated to say or do anything and my son started to drive the car out of the way at the same time and couldn't have timed putting it under the front wheel any better.

Maybe she should have given us more time.

Maybe I should have the toys on the road unless I'm willing to have them get run over.

Percentage of blame is subjective but I'm going to go with 75% on her and 25% on me.

If someone had to swerve to miss an RC car and cause an accident because of it then two things:

1) RC car is expendable so you absolutely shouldn't swerve to miss it if it is going to cause other problems.
2) Similar to rear ending someone because you're following too close - if they had to swerve they either were going to fast or the RC car driver is 100% at fault for surprising the driver (like a pedestrian who runs out from in between two parked cars).

CA law is not off my side here but I'm hesitant to say it is on my side. It does call out residential areas as slower speed zones, blind turns as even slower zones.

Again, I've been out for the day doing other stuff and been able to get away from it so I do feel better but the thing that does still bother me is, what if it had been my kid. For my kid I'm certain she would have given more time to clear if it wasn't already too late. I'd like to have a constructive conversation with her about slowing down for that turn because it is a blind turn but I'm also reevaluating where I put me and the boys when we're playing. My driveway is on the other side of that turn, her house is the next one down. I usually have us go down in front of her house to get us away from the blind turn but maybe that isn't far enough...

[nostatic]

Since she was able to stop, the "going too fast" part becomes he said/she said - with the evidence being that she wasn't.

The law would say that the street is for "real" vehicles and that the RC car didn't belong there. It isn't like an animal - you had control of the RC car.

While she could have responded differently, I don't see how this is her "fault" at all. The speeding in the neighborhood is a separate issue.

[aigel]

I would use this event to teach my kids about the dangers of the road. Teach where you can have an effect. Your neighbor is hopeless. Let it go ...

G

[Rick V]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

but I really rue the day I have to live with neighbors.

Paul shoots supersonic rockets at his neighbors.

[Rick V]

If she was speeding then she should be confronted with it since you say it is a habitual issue but it is another issue.
This is all my opinion and please take it as such. I am tired of having to stop, move, wait for bikes, joggers, toys and all manner of things that are constantly in the road that was built for a car, a real car and not an RC car. If I ran over an RC car I would stop, apologize and ask why it was in a vehicle travel lane in the first place. If the driver stopped her car, and you failed to get out of her way and the toy got squashed, it's all on you. My son (who is 27) has a large collection of RC cars and trucks that he and his boys play with and yes they run them on the road, and yes they have had a couple squashed, but they never put any of the high dollar ones in that situation, for this very reason. It isn't her fault nor her responsibility. She does, however need to slow down in a residential area before she squashes a pet or a kid.

[ted]

She's an inconsiderate driver, if you were playing football she would of run over the football.

Put a custom body on the RC car that looks like a cat or dog and maybe she will feel worse when she runs over it?
Or install a 4 foot high antena with a small flag on the RC car so car drivers can see the rc car when it is too small or too close to the real car to see.

Is there a near by safer/quiet parking lot or can you get off road cars and make a small dirt track in your backyard?

Maybe tell the kids don't drive on the street near corners/intersections where drivers may not have time to react, or have a spotter with a flag to warn both RC driver and car driver of each other?

If your kids can't control the car fast enough to get out of the way of car traffic they should not be playing in the street. There are transmitters where you can override your kids transmitter and control the RC car to quickly keep it out of danger.

[island911]

Originally Posted by ted

She's an inconsiderate driver, if you were playing football she would of run over the football.....

But it is/was NOT a football. It was a quick moving RC car. . . .something the average driver, who was inconvenienced to stop for, would expect to Get the Fck out of the way in a timely manner. From the story, it sounds as if she lost sight of the thing ...again, expecting the little car to get the Fck out of her way.

Sheesh, some of you are acting like she drove up on to the curb to intentionally run over an orphaned boy's one toy in the world.

[mikester]

Originally Posted by island911

But it is/was NOT a football. It was a quick moving RC car. . . .something the average driver, who was inconvenienced to stop for, would expect to Get the Fck out of the way in a timely manner. From the story, it sounds as if she lost sight of the thing ...again, expecting the little car to get the Fck out of her way.

Sheesh, some of you are acting like she drove up on to the curb to intentionally run over an orphaned boy's one toy in the world.

1 second too long?

You gots some short slas dude. Even hers are typically longer than that.

[island911]

slas? ... Society for Latin American Studies?

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by mikester

Percentage of blame is subjective but I'm going to go with 75% on her and 25% on me.

Are you kidding me?
If she had run over your dog in the street she would not be liable.

[island911]

THIS

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

Driver
was
a
five
year
old.

and THIS

Originally Posted by nostatic

Since she was able to stop, the "going too fast" part becomes he said/she said - with the evidence being that she wasn't.

The law would say that the street is for "real" vehicles and that the RC car didn't belong there. It isn't like an animal - you had control of the RC car.

While she could have responded differently, I don't see how this is her "fault" at all. The speeding in the neighborhood is a separate issue.

Mikester, really, people here are trying to help you out. Some want to buddy up and say "yeah..that stupid beotch" and others are saying; 'hey, don't pile blame on your neighbor - it will make your life worse. Accept that it was a toy, piloted by a 5y/o, in the road with real cars. No one got hurt. Just your pride in your son's inabilities to pilot a toy away. (he is 5!)

[Hads930]

Look at it from another angle. Lets say she hops out of the car, she apologizes, and admits that she has some responsibility and you agree that it was 50% on both of you. You are ok with that and she hands you a $50 on the spot.

Now fast forward, she comes over Monday with a small mangled metal part clearly from you rc car that a tire shop dug out of the sidewall of her run flat. She has a bill for $400 bucks for a new tire and wants your 50% of the blame to cover half of her tire bill.

Do you still feel the same way? The car was in a public motor vehicle roadway and got run over, move on. I have an 8 y/o and could picture a similar scenario happening to me, especially with my luck. Would I be happy? Nope, but I know I would have no one to blame but myself.

[mikesride]

Originally Posted by Hads930

Look at it from another angle. Lets say she hops out of the car, she apologizes, and admits that she has some responsibility and you agree that it was 50% on both of you. You are ok with that and she hands you a $50 on the spot.

Now fast forward, she comes over Monday with a small mangled metal part clearly from you rc car that a tire shop dug out of the sidewall of her run flat. She has a bill for $400 bucks for a new tire and wants your 50% of the blame to cover half of her tire bill.

Do you still feel the same way? The car was in a public motor vehicle roadway and got run over, move on. I have an 8 y/o and could picture a similar scenario happening to me, especially with my luck. Would I be happy? Nope, but I know I would have no one to blame but myself.

^^ this adds a whole new dimension to the discussion^^

[mikester]

Originally Posted by island911

THIS

and THIS


Mikester, really, people here are trying to help you out. Some want to buddy up and say "yeah..that stupid beotch" and others are saying; 'hey, don't pile blame on your neighbor - it will make your life worse. Accept that it was a toy, piloted by a 5y/o, in the road with real cars. No one got hurt. Just your pride in your son's inabilities to pilot a toy away. (he is 5!)

The driver was a supervised 5 year old.

I don't think my neighbor is stupid or a *****. Impatient was the word I used I believe.

I don't want any money from her.

I do think that the general old guy 'get off my lawn' attitude shown here by some folks telling me that I shouldn't be doing it at all (which I disagree with) is ironic because those same folks are likely the ones who complain of 'the death of the good old days.'

In the good old days kids and dads could play and not get hassled for it. We weren't' doing anything wrong, we weren't hurting anyone. We weren't posing a danger to anyone. Our presence was not 'wrong' and not prohibited by law as far as I can tell or as far as I have ever been told by the Police officers who have occasionally stopped to watch our cars.

I had a really long post all typed out her but then I remembered that this is the Internet and we are all trolls (some more than others).

Island, give me a couple of seconds and to get off your lawn.

[gordner]

Mike you seem to have a solid handle on it, and I bet if her vehicle were damaged you would have stepped up. Amazing how fired up people can get, in a residential neighbourhood it should not be unexpected to come across obstacles, ie kids, kids toys or adults at play you never know. She should slow down, and a reasonable person for sure would have paid for it, she stopped and then ran the damn thing over. Who stops and then drives on unsure of where the obstacle is? She was not waiting 15 minutes for you to clear it....
And everyone should relax in general!
No better place than a quiet road to run an rc car that is all part of the fun. You know going out you could lose it, but people still need to be somewhat considerate in life behind the wheel or otherwise!

[sammyg2]

I bought my son an rc car several years ago and he played with it for a while but lost interest. I still use it once in a while.

Occasionally we'd take it to a big deserted parking lot, someones we run it in front of the house on the street.
I always told my son: be careful, we need to watch out for cars and get it out of the way if a car comes. If it gets run it over it's our fault.

If she did it on purpose it'd be something completely different, but it was an accident. little cars like that are not visible to big cars.

My car scoots pretty good and I'm betting yours is (was) even faster. In your hands you probably could have gotten that truck to safety with no problem but a 5 year old would have a harder time.

IMO I don't see how any blame could reasonably be put on her.
If I were in the same position and she offered to pay for it I'd thank her for being a good neighbor but refuse her money.
If she didn't offer I'd just figure she had no obligation to.

[gordner]

Yes but she did see it Sammy, she stopped for it and then proceeded when she didn't know where it was....regardless of the obstacle in question, that is just stupid. Add in the fact that where there are toys there are kids, and kids might just go in to pick it up without being seen, that is just stupid. Who would not look up and wait for the adult who is on site to wave you on when it is clear?
Not a question of lawful or not or really even fault, just common sense

[island911]

Originally Posted by mikester

...
Island, give me a couple of seconds and to get off your lawn.

I see.

People take their time to try to help you be less of a self-centered, responsibility-shirking 'man' with a TOY . . . and you break out the insults, because it's not what you want to hear.


I'll step off your lawn.