I am pleased to say that I have not reversed into anyone else! And I am relieved to know that I am not the only person who has had a few mishaps when reversing or parking cars!
However, I will not recount all the other stories I have heard, for fear that I may lose my friends and upset my family. Still I cannot resist telling you about Walter's mishaps with motorhomes. He has given permission!
Our first motorhome was a left hand drive Chausson. Not an easy vehicle to manoeuvre, I might add.
On our first trip out, Walter parked the van in a carpark in Canterbury, beside a small wooden post. But he forgot about the post when he drove off and turned the wheel on the van too sharply so that the post went into the front left door. The door was pushed in so much we could not open it! He followed this up 18 months later, when leaving a carpark, by turning the wheel again too sharply. This time the gate post gauged a strip out of the left side of the van. As we were leaving to go on holiday very soon afterwards, he had to put tape over the strip. It was very noticeable, and caused many a stare from people in other vehicles. Sympathetic stares, I hope!
When we came back from holidays, Walter had the van repaired and we bought a right hand drive van, which has been damaged but that was through an elderly lady in Germany reversing her car into the back of our van. The poor lady was very shaken, and the fact that the accident happened in front of two policemen, did not help her. I forgot to say that Walter reversed into a post, but this was due to me not giving clear directions when he was reversing the van.
The funniest mishap though was in NZ when we hired a long camper van. Walter turned the wheel (yet again) too sharply and the back of the van got caught on the cement pavement. It would not go forward or backward. Panic! A very elderly and overweight man had to help me lift the van up so that Walter could reverse the van back off the footpath. A bolt came off the water tank, which a helpful man in a garage fixed up with a piece of wire. The elderly overweight man did not have a heart attack thank goodness. A very deep scratch in the concrete marked the spot, forever!
I have a clean history with motor homes, so far!
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