May have dinged my bumper

[ETCH]

Do you street park in a crowded neighborhood where people can circle around for an hour looking for a parking spot?

There are certain rules of parking etiquette. One is, if there's a hydrant or a no-parking sign or whatever that leaves enough space for two cars to park in a given stretch of pavement, you don't park in the middle of it; you park as far up as you can somebody else can park behind you. Because otherwise you're the a**hole. Another is, if you're parking in a line of cars along the side of the street, you don't leave two feet between you and the car in front of you if everybody tightens up their parking spaces, you can fit an extra car or two on a given street. And the BIGGEST one is, don't take up valuable parking space with your useless trailer hitch; it takes you two seconds to pull it out and stick it in your trunk, and gives other people on the block more space to park. Do that.

Also, not exactly sure how you're saying I'm incompetent. That's not the tightest parallel parking spot I've ever parked in, but there's, what, seven total inches of space for me on both sides? Would have been 15 without the trailer hitch. Regardless, I'm not an amateur at this. Would be easier if the Mustang had a front camera so I could have seen the hitch was there; hard to make it out in the dark on icy pavement.

where is that written... "its not my fault..." wouaaaaaaaaaa:rules:

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[JimmyTwoTimes]

+1 Amen

its the new American Way..." not my fault it has to be someone's fault I screwed up." take responsibility for your actions. I would have had more respect if the OP would have started out with, "guess what dumb ass thing I did today..."

And I'll repeat: you must not be used to street parking in NYC, Boston, Chicago, D.C., or other places where parking is at an extreme premium.

Nobody here drives pickup trucks because they're hard to find parking for. And leaving trailer hitches on is just inconsiderate of other drivers. That's 8" of parking room that could be taken up by another car, but you can't be bothered to be polite to your fellow street parkers.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

where is that written... "its not my fault..." wouaaaaaaaaaa:rules:

It's also not "written" anywhere that you shouldn't leave your car alarm going off for an hour while people in the neighborhood are going about their business. But if you do, and you come back to a brick through your windshield, you've got nobody to blame but yourself.

 

[Bay1Stang]

Can't tell from the picture but it looked like it hit your license plate??

People hate on them but I think this is where those range detectors come in handy. Don't know why they only developed it for the rear in this car, though..

 

[SeventhWard]

I've had this happen to me in my little daily driver Honda. I know my car, we all know our cars. Parking is second nature when you know your car. Imagine my surprise when I felt contact as I inched forward into a trailer hitch I failed to notice beforehand.

Ever since then, I've made it a point to look out for trailer hitches when I'm parking. Whenever I see an SUV or a pickup on the street, I'm thinking trailer hitch. My bent license plate was a great way to learn, and as much as I hate the placement for the Ford factory front license plate bracket on the new Mustang, maybe it does have its benefits when it comes to situations like this; maybe having the plate there is like having a little extra cushion.

Yeah, I can see how leaving the hitch attached in a crowded city street parking situation can cause division however I just think it's up to us to just be vigilant and also accept the inevitable scrapes and bumps that are going to come with city life. I'm saying that NOW before I actually buy the car but let me get the first war wound on my Mustang and I know I'm gonna be mad that day.

-SeventhWard

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Can't tell from the picture but it looked like it hit your license plate??

People hate on them but I think this is where those range detectors come in handy. Don't know why they only developed it for the rear in this car, though..

A front camera or front range detector would be a Godsend.

It's lined up with the license plate now so that if he backs up into me he'll hit that, but the impact I made was about two inches to the passenger side of the plate frame on the front bumper. Went out to look; tiny ding, nothing serious.

 

[B-52 Jetman]

Maybe you should get one of these:

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Maybe you should get one of these:

Have them, front and back, but I don't normally use them when I'm driving since they block the license plates. If I'm leaving it parked for a while I'll throw them on.

 

[Fox5.0]

Its inconsiderate. Everyone that lives there knows parking is a hell in that city, at least take it off since you're not using it.

 

[valentinoamoro]

Between the snow, salt and appalling parking conditions I'm glad I dont live there as well. Snows 1 day a year here (if that) and parking is MUCH better. have you considered this?? It wouldnt work in your case, but there are other bumper guards for this kind of NYC situation I believe.

http://www.amazon.com/BumpShox-3-0-...=UTF8&qid=1424843061&sr=8-2&keywords=bumpshox

 

[badass03ragtop]

Well, call me an a$$hole, but when I lived in Philly, I left the hitch on. I got tired of people "tapping" my bumpers and setting off my alarm. All my neighbors knew I was fanatical about my vehicles and respected that. A visitor wasn't quite so observant. My alarm went off and I looked out to see a car trying to park. He had plenty of room, even with the hitch. When I noticed a bit of paint from his car on the hitch the next morning, I drove off with half his grill. And since it was a drop hitch, I'm pretty sure I got the radiator too.

People don't give a s**t about other people's property and I will seek payback every single time. Wife just had an incident in a school parking lot when a lady flung her soccer-mom van door open and it hit the side of the truck. Luckily, it hit the nerf bar bending the heck out of her door. Didn't even leave a mark on the truck Wonder what the cost of a door for a late model Odyssey is???

 

[NavyChief]

Do you street park in a crowded neighborhood where people can circle around for an hour looking for a parking spot?

There are certain rules of parking etiquette. One is, if there's a hydrant or a no-parking sign or whatever that leaves enough space for two cars to park in a given stretch of pavement, you don't park in the middle of it; you park as far up as you can somebody else can park behind you. Because otherwise you're the a**hole. Another is, if you're parking in a line of cars along the side of the street, you don't leave two feet between you and the car in front of you if everybody tightens up their parking spaces, you can fit an extra car or two on a given street. And the BIGGEST one is, don't take up valuable parking space with your useless trailer hitch; it takes you two seconds to pull it out and stick it in your trunk, and gives other people on the block more space to park. Do that.

Also, not exactly sure how you're saying I'm incompetent. That's not the tightest parallel parking spot I've ever parked in, but there's, what, seven total inches of space for me on both sides? Would have been 15 without the trailer hitch. Regardless, I'm not an amateur at this. Would be easier if the Mustang had a front camera so I could have seen the hitch was there; hard to make it out in the dark on icy pavement.

Sorry bro. But you hit his car your fault. Only can be mad at your self. I grew up in SF and If you like your car you parked in a garage not on the street. Otherwise you bumpers would be trash. Maybe next time you will look for a trailer hitch. Too soon?:cheers:

 

[B-52 Jetman]

So I go to park my car this evening, and I do a pretty good parallel parking job on an icy street, nothing special...

And it's not a particularly tight fit, plenty of room between me and the car behind me...

Except when I'm pulling in I bump the car in front of me. And I'm like; dude, no way. There's PLENTY of room between me and the car in front of me. Except, after I'm done parking, I get out and look at the car in front of me and see...

This motherf***ing a**hole has a goddamned trailer hitch sticking eight inches out of the back of his car!!! What kind of lunatic does that while street parking in NYC???

For like a half a second I thought of slashing his tires or smashing in his windshield with a crowbar, but I resisted the urge. But, seriously, people -- if you're going to be parallel parking, DO NOT leave a trailer hitch on your car.

It's too dark outside to determine whether I dented my bumper or not (I hit the trailer hitch going about one foot / second); guess I'll see tomorrow. Don't really care either way, but still. Some people...

EDIT: The trailer hitch is kind of hard to see in that photo; it's less than an inch in front of my license plate.

So, let me get this straight. You're mad at a guy, that left a trailer hitch in his vehicle, that you hit, while parking? Best of my knowledge, there isn't a law about leaving your trailer hitch in your vehicle. Maybe the guy tows a trailer a lot, who knows. Either way it's your fault for hitting it. As a matter of fact, If I remember correctly, on another post when another forum member got the rear bumper of his Mustang scuffed in a parking lot you said: "If you drive a car in public, dents, dings & scratches will happen. They're not a big deal." It's just the way of things...right?

 

[fionic]

'plenty of room'.

those pictures are giving me a panic attack.

 

[Strokerswild]

Here in MN, most every truck you see has a hitch in place 24/7. As stated above, no law to the contrary.

If I lived in NYC (which will never happen) I'd leave one on too just so my rear bumper wouldn't get mangled. Or I'd just drive the biggest piece of shit under the sun...

I cringe every time I watch a video of people parking out there and bumping other cars with each end of the vehicle, it's ridiculous to me that it's accepted.

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