Life can be stranger than fiction - we always heard this, but it does not happen to us personally. Or so I thought until a couple of days ago.
I was driving to the local YMCA (where I swim everyday) on my way to school. As I took the off-ramp from the freeway, I had to take manual control of the car (no auto-pilot beyond freeway, or at least yet) and stop at the signal to take a left turn. I was in a great mood with the semester coming to a great finish, my upcoming trip to my hometown in India (yay!), and christmas already in the air (literally, an FM station is already playing Santa songs). I was plotting and planning all the to-dos of the day.
The light turned green and I was rudely interrupted deep in my happy thoughts as the car behind me, a red van, bumped into my car. It was not a big jolt, but I knew there are sensitive electronics in the rear bumper, so I better stop and get all the insurance info from the guilty party. I looked at the rear view mirror, waived at the lady driving the van, completed the turn slowly (so as not to block traffic), and stopped at the shoulder. The lady pretended to park her car in front of me and just took off. I was stunned.
Very unhappy, I came out to inspect the damage. A passerby (whose name I found out later is Tony) stopped by and said, "why didn't you chase her? You have the model 3 man!". If I knew she would run, all I had to do is to turn on my rear view camera and take a picture of her license plate (a screen capture feature is in my bucket list for Elon). Then Tony mentioned, you car must have recorded the front view. And sure enough, after the latest software update, it did. I looked at the recording and it showed the van driving away; I could only decipher the last 5 numerals of the van's license plate (because of the angle and frame rate). I started debating whether to call 911. Then, I thought, I am not injured, I have a class to teach, and my own insurance will cover this. But Tony suggested I go to the police station which is just a block away.
As I got into the car, I was thinking, yes, I should go there. If she gets scot-free, she will get emboldened and may cause bigger harm. The police officer I met was very sympathetic, but because I was on a freeway off-ramp, he said this has to be handled by CHP (Cal Highway Patrol) officers. He gave me the address of where to go.
The CHP desk-person (an elderly gentleaman) was very skeptical that the video is of much help. All he wanted was the license plate number. But after I filed my report, a young officer came and he was excited about the video. He thought he could possibly locate the car through some data bases. He also asked why I did not call 911. When I explained, he said it does not have to be a life threatening incidence, after any crime we are supposed to call 911 (in all my 35 years in US, this is the first time I was a victim of a crime - I don't know why people think US is not a great place, but that is a different story).
The young officer then proceeded to inspect my car for the damage. And guess what he found? Stuck in my rear bumper was the license plate of the van (photo attached). I was so unnerved, I was too dumb to figure that out. The officer said, in all these years, he never saw such a direct evidence of a crime and started calling everyone else to see this. He asked me if I would be willing to testify as a case will be filed against her by the state.
Today, I got calls from her insurance company (and mine), telling me they are ready to put my car back into the original shape no matter how much it costs. Her insurance company took all responsibilities and just wanted to make sure I am not having any health issue (to which I said - not at all, all I want is my bumper fixed). I will have a loaner car for the time they take to fix my car.
I wasted a lot of time (and still will waste) on an unproductive issue, but I learned a few lessons that I wanted to share. 1. Callig 911 after any crime is okay (from the cop's mouth); 2. After an accident, we should be getting the camera out (if possible) and take as many pictures; 3. No wonder, Model 3 is called one of the safest car. The van drilled holes in my rear bumper and it caved in like butter. I just felt a very minor jolt (I live in California, even my house shakes harder than that).
I was driving to the local YMCA (where I swim everyday) on my way to school. As I took the off-ramp from the freeway, I had to take manual control of the car (no auto-pilot beyond freeway, or at least yet) and stop at the signal to take a left turn. I was in a great mood with the semester coming to a great finish, my upcoming trip to my hometown in India (yay!), and christmas already in the air (literally, an FM station is already playing Santa songs). I was plotting and planning all the to-dos of the day.
The light turned green and I was rudely interrupted deep in my happy thoughts as the car behind me, a red van, bumped into my car. It was not a big jolt, but I knew there are sensitive electronics in the rear bumper, so I better stop and get all the insurance info from the guilty party. I looked at the rear view mirror, waived at the lady driving the van, completed the turn slowly (so as not to block traffic), and stopped at the shoulder. The lady pretended to park her car in front of me and just took off. I was stunned.
Very unhappy, I came out to inspect the damage. A passerby (whose name I found out later is Tony) stopped by and said, "why didn't you chase her? You have the model 3 man!". If I knew she would run, all I had to do is to turn on my rear view camera and take a picture of her license plate (a screen capture feature is in my bucket list for Elon). Then Tony mentioned, you car must have recorded the front view. And sure enough, after the latest software update, it did. I looked at the recording and it showed the van driving away; I could only decipher the last 5 numerals of the van's license plate (because of the angle and frame rate). I started debating whether to call 911. Then, I thought, I am not injured, I have a class to teach, and my own insurance will cover this. But Tony suggested I go to the police station which is just a block away.
As I got into the car, I was thinking, yes, I should go there. If she gets scot-free, she will get emboldened and may cause bigger harm. The police officer I met was very sympathetic, but because I was on a freeway off-ramp, he said this has to be handled by CHP (Cal Highway Patrol) officers. He gave me the address of where to go.
The CHP desk-person (an elderly gentleaman) was very skeptical that the video is of much help. All he wanted was the license plate number. But after I filed my report, a young officer came and he was excited about the video. He thought he could possibly locate the car through some data bases. He also asked why I did not call 911. When I explained, he said it does not have to be a life threatening incidence, after any crime we are supposed to call 911 (in all my 35 years in US, this is the first time I was a victim of a crime - I don't know why people think US is not a great place, but that is a different story).
The young officer then proceeded to inspect my car for the damage. And guess what he found? Stuck in my rear bumper was the license plate of the van (photo attached). I was so unnerved, I was too dumb to figure that out. The officer said, in all these years, he never saw such a direct evidence of a crime and started calling everyone else to see this. He asked me if I would be willing to testify as a case will be filed against her by the state.
Today, I got calls from her insurance company (and mine), telling me they are ready to put my car back into the original shape no matter how much it costs. Her insurance company took all responsibilities and just wanted to make sure I am not having any health issue (to which I said - not at all, all I want is my bumper fixed). I will have a loaner car for the time they take to fix my car.
I wasted a lot of time (and still will waste) on an unproductive issue, but I learned a few lessons that I wanted to share. 1. Callig 911 after any crime is okay (from the cop's mouth); 2. After an accident, we should be getting the camera out (if possible) and take as many pictures; 3. No wonder, Model 3 is called one of the safest car. The van drilled holes in my rear bumper and it caved in like butter. I just felt a very minor jolt (I live in California, even my house shakes harder than that).
