When I ordered my 2017 Corvette Stingray, I included the optional Performance Data Recorder (PDR). The PDR is a sort of dash cam, although on steroids, that records audio and video from a front-facing camera within the windshield header trim and stores it on an SD card in the glove box.
It also records, among other data, speed, RPM, GPS location, transmission gear, lateral and longitudinal g-force, percentage brake and throttle position, and steering angle. However, to have it operate like a dash cam, one has to remember to activate it each time the car is started.
Monday afternoon I was parked on the end of an aisle at the McLean Giant, listening to 40s Junction selections on Sirius/XM while Betty Lou picked up a prescription. This PDR video shows what happened next. Select the back arrow to return.
After the first crunch the driver stopped, realizing he'd done something bad, but the passenger isn't taking a look to see how serious it is and in the process noticing that I'm the car.
Time to consider what to do. Get out and look for the owner? After a pause, the answer – drive off, causing even more severe damage and get out of Dodge!
I must admit that I didn't realize at first that was their intent. You can hear the door slam as I got out and followed them, thinking they were about to pull into the wide gap of open spaces where we would discuss the situation.
Au contraire! They disappeared around the end of the aisle and headed back down the next one toward the exit! I cut across between parked cars, and now joined by several others who had witnessed the entire incident – you might have heard the "Aww" when they drove away – stood in front of their SUV.
The driver stopped but edged forward a couple of times. Eventually realizing we were not about to step aside, he gave up and pulled over. It's clear that if I wasn't in the car, they would have made a clean getaway.
Not that they would have escaped scot-free, since the video is clear enough that the license plate is visible. Although the first character is obscured, when combined with the vehicle model and color, it's unlikely there is more than one such registered vehicle.
Fortunately, since I was parked on the end, there were plenty of witnesses, including a Giant Assistant Manager, who also took photos and gave me her identifying information.
After the driver and his passenger viewed the damage they had done, their first reaction wasn't to say they were sorry, it was to say that it was my fault because I wasn't parked completely within the lines! As my insurance agent pointed out, anyone causing damage to a stationary vehicle is at fault.
However, that's when they insisted I call the police! Perhaps they hoped police would agree with them.
In any case, when I called 911, they said they didn't normally respond to accidents on private property, but asked if there were any injuries. I said no, but then they asked if the vehicle could be moved.
Based on this sad photo – when Betty Lou came out of Giant and saw it, she broke out in tears –
the obvious answer was no, so they did send two officers to take and exchange information. Since it was private property, they had no interest in anything else.
But I'm glad that they did come, because their form asked for more information than I might have thought of, in the process assuring that the information they did record was accurate. If the couple had thought they could somehow convince the police that I was in the wrong, since they were there only to gather and exchange data, they lost out on that remote possibility.
However, they're even more fortunate the police weren't there to investigate – hit and run is a pretty serious offense! I learned how serious when I later researched the Virginia statutes. It's a class 5 felony if the damage value is more than $1,000 (estimate so far $5,400), and the vehicle is attended. If I weren't in the car, it would have been a misdemeanor.
A class 5 felony is punishable by "fines, restitution, and incarceration" of up to 10 years in prison! A passenger involved in a hit and run is guilty of a class 6 felony, punishable by up to five years. However, a more surprising provision is that the statute applies on private as well as public property!
I wouldn't really want anyone to serve prison time, but a six-month driver's license suspension – which can be imposed when the damage value is only $500 – or perhaps a felony conviction on the record might induce more careful as well as more lawful driving in the future.
Ironically, it was just the week before that someone had marveled at the pristine condition of a car that was more than three years old. I said that it had only 14,000 miles on it. And, since it was fiberglass, it won't rust and, with regular washing and occasional detailing, unless it gets bumped, it will look like new for a long time.
I never thought I might have been tempting fate!
Update: The repair has been completed, but ...