In another accident :(

Well the last one was ruled everyones fault for following too closely if you remember that post. This one will probably also be ruled against me but again it's a gray area. I was parked quiet street and my uncle was driving his car past me. He went past and around a culdesac then drove past me. I pulled out behind him and a car side swiped me. On pulling out I looked in the mirror and signalled and I believe did a shoulder check but all I saw was my uncles car. The other guy must have been tailgating my uncle because I swear all I saw was my uncles car. AT any rate he hit our car at a very shallow angle and did no damage to his car but took the bumper almost clear off ours

Car is insured under my fathers name. Some how after these 2 accidents his driving record is still considered good by the insurance company and his premiums will only creep up a tiny bit. However he will have to pay the 300 dollar deductible again. I will be giving him $1500 tomorrow for these accidents and of course generally owing him for still staying at home. This is my idea and he doesn't even know about it yet (in fact he will probably not accept the money but I will refuse to accept it back). This sucks.

Note I'm taking full responsibility here. The other guy may have been tailgating but I should have double checked. I'm a newbie driver. I'm just lucky it wasn't a pedestrian or bicycler. I'll be MUCH more careful in the future.

In my first 10 years as a driver I had something like 8 accidents, two of them totals, all but one of them my fault. Since then I'm a flawless driver. I'm 46 now. I may have an attention deficit problem, but I'm too much of a chickenshit to get it checked out. I definitely am an airhead and it just took a lot of screw ups and a lot of money before I learned to be a good driver.

I don't know what the secret is, but take this stuff seriously. You'll be happier if you really look back on this as a learning experience instead of a trend setter. Maybe take a defensive driving course.

This means, assume that there's an accident waiting to happen all the time when you're driving, because this is true.

Your first mistake in this scenario was that you pulled out too soon to follow your father's car. Had you waited till he was well past you the other car would have been seen by you. You should deliberately wait to make sure. Your father would have slowed down for you to follow him if he had gotten too far away. Plus, you can still follow your father even when there's a car between your car and your father's.

Make sure that you drive a safe distance behind everyone at all times if possible. two or three car's lengths is good because you have plenty of time to react if something happens in front of you. There is no need to fill the gap by tailgating. You will not get to your destination in a shorter time by trying to force the car in front of you to speed up.

Be aware of pedestrians and other drivers all the time. Use your car's mirrors all the time. Assume that cars are going to cross in front of you at corners and assume pedestrians are going to step off the curve and cross the street. Anticipate trouble ahead and plan for it. Planning means leaving enough space between you and the car in front of you so you stop safely if the driver in front of you needs to hit the brakes hard. Leaving that much space in front of you also allows for other cars to change lanes without you having to jam the breaks on.

Being a safe driver is never luck or accidental. Safe drivers are aware drivers who anticipate and plan. Safe drivers know there are unsafe drivers out there who are reckless and irresponsible and they prepare for them by watching out for them and adjusting their driving to avoid being in an accident with them.

It doesn't always work, but it works most of the time. And some people drive a lifetime and never have an accident. It would be a mistake to think it's because they were just lucky.

and you've gotten great advice here. I drive in the DC area and never assume that anyone around here really knows how to drive. My kids tell me that I drive like an old lady, and I've learned to take that as a compliment. :) Check and double-check, and always expect people to act like bozos, that's my mantra. Glad you're okay, too!

And I wait.. wait.. wait.... until at least everyone is about half a block away from me, then I back out and vroom. :)