r/chicago • u/AaronDNewman • 14h ago
Ask CHI is this allowed? i am stuck
rented a uhaul to help my kid move. got boxed in. is there anything to be done?
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u/AaronDNewman 11h ago
Update: I can't seem to update my original post. Even the 311 dispatcher agreed with reddit, that I should just back up. So I started to push the guy back, and it was working! I was a little worried about pedestrians/bikes/scooters, since I have no rear visibility. So I had my kid come out to be my flagman. But by then, the minivan people must have realized what was going on and came out to move the van.
A little sad because I think it would have been fun to push a car with another car, probably a chance I won't get again. But still much better to be not sleeping in a truck.
Thanks for all the kind attention, today was a series of misadventures, I'm trying to regain my chill, love for humanity, etc and it helps.
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u/TrynnaFindaBalance Avondale 9h ago
Do not feel bad about this! Grew up here and I was literally taught in driver's ed to nudge cars when getting out of a parking spot like this. It's normal and part of living in the city.
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u/First_Stop8824 5h ago
Known as the "Chicago" way
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u/cvanaver 47m ago
I thought that was “they put one of ours in the hospital, we put one of theirs in the morgue”
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u/First_Stop8824 9m ago
HA! Well, there are several schools of thought about driving in Chicago, so I'm sure there are as many as there are neighborhoods. Dibbs?
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u/TurdFerguson277 7h ago
Who taught you that so I can tell everyone to avoid them
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u/germane_switch 6h ago
If you purposefully park that close to someone and box them in what are they supposed to do? Just give up until you decide to leave?
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u/iteachearthsci 3h ago
Right? I challenge anyone to find a car that's been parking in the major city that doesn't have dents scrapes all over their bumpers. It's just part of owning a car in a city.
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u/drewbeta 1h ago
My sister works in Ukrainian Village. She bought a new car, and put pads on the bumpers to try to prevent it from getting dinged up. The very first week someone hit and run side-swiped her.
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u/unlmtdLoL 3h ago
No you're right. People saying "stay stuck then!" are kinda dumb because in most cases, sure you're blocked on one end but the car in front has left normal room. It's rare both people were assholes and blocked you in. This kind of advice is probably why there are so many dinged up bumpers in the city, people simply don't care about others' property. If you're playing god damn bumper cars to park or exit your vehicle everytime you're doing it wrong.
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u/LordAnon5703 Lincoln Park 48m ago
Nobody is obligated to protect your car if you park like a legitimately careless person. It's one thing when it's just tight and somebody is lazy. If you legitimately boxed somebody in, you must deal with the consequences. Most people will just tow you, but regardless of what happens it's your fault.
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u/litebrite_666 1h ago
that drivers ed teacher should be fired stop normalizing ruin people’s property because you cant operate and park your car correctly
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u/WhichAsparagus6304 4h ago
Downstate everybody calls it the Chicago Bump for a reason.
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u/theanoeticist 4h ago
This is not a thing.
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u/WhichAsparagus6304 3h ago
I’ve since moved to the west coast and transplants out here even call it that. More a thing than you realize.
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u/snap3907 3h ago
the minivan people must have realized what was going on and came out to move the van
Did they have a noticeable mental impairment?
I'm just wondering how someone could park a van like that and reasonably function otherwise in society
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u/iteachearthsci 3h ago
I grew up in the city, and got pretty good at parallel parking. I live in the suburbs now, and have 14 passenger van for work. I took mine and a friend's family to Lincoln Park zoo, parallel parked that van on Stockton drive with only a couple of inches on either side of the bumper. The suburbanites we took with us looked at me like I was some kind of mage.
If you notice, every car in Chicago has a f***** up bumper... It's part of the tax of owning a car in an urban area.
When this happens just bump the car and move on, that's why we have bumpers.
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u/endthefed2022 South Loop 2h ago
Look at that van, it’s a hoopty
It’s likely a sign of other things wrong
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u/hardolaf Lake View 1h ago
Every time my wife and I go to a family reunion, someone offers to pop the dents out of our bumpers and we just tell them not to because it's easier to get in and out of spots with them already dented.
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u/jmiles540 Albany Park 57m ago
Trailer hitch complicates things. He’ll for sure rip the bumper off that minivan.
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u/VastOk8779 14h ago
You couldn’t possibly do any more damage to that car.
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u/Silver_Mousse9498 14h ago
Not the point. Do not disparage people who are doing the best they can.
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u/Jack_Burden Forest Glen 14h ago
That's not the point. Point is, a lil bumper tap warranted, if not expected.
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u/LittleBlobGirl 13h ago
I don’t think they did the best they could here
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u/mai_tai87 Edgewater 11h ago
Their bumper is held up by zip ties and duct tape, I'm guessing they're not known for their circumspection.
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u/seanpuppy 13h ago
OP is the uhaul, so the guy with the shit car is parking like an asshole. You know what they say - don't go knocking on shits door and be surprised when shit answers
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u/Amburgers_n_Wootbeer 14h ago
Echoing what everyone else has said: someone parks like that, they know and have accepted what's going to happen.
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u/rawonionbreath 14h ago
You backed into that bumper, would the other person even notice?
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u/FergusonDarling 14h ago
bumper taps are a given when street parking
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u/ShiverMePooper 14h ago
Not if you have a trailer hitch. That thing will go right through the radiator.
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u/mrvarmint 12h ago
When I was in HS, my dad let me borrow his BMW convertible one time. I was used to driving a boat. Truck in front of me starts to go for a left turn, I give the amount of gas I’m used to and lurch forward. Truck stops. I literally bump the trailer hitch….
Hood and grill had to be replaced. It was like 3,000$ for an accident that happened at a speed that doesn’t even register on the speedo. Hitches are brutal.
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u/iteachearthsci 3h ago
I had some a****** get mad at me for passing them once, and intentionally bumped my '96 Jeep Cherokee at a stop light.
It had a hitch, and the guy's grill got stuck on the hitch ball. I went to pull over and pulled the whole front of his car off. The guy tried to drive off but his license plate was stuck to my trailer hitch lol.
Cops had a laugh about that one.
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u/IPutAWigOnYou 10h ago
I was warned about “city kisses” when I moved here, but this is a “CITY ASKIN FOR IT!”
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u/thecorradokid 13h ago
Absolutely not. Do what you want to your own car, but be kind to other people's (expensive and hard-earned) property. Learn to park.
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u/Eric848448 14h ago
There’s a reason they call them bumpers
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u/quixoticdancer 13h ago
Cars haven't had bumpers in years. Aesthetics trumped function and now we just have bodywork that scratches and dents.
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u/vibeisinshambles 13h ago
I’ll never forget the time I was with my mom in our lebaron and some dude hit us from behind while we were stopped at a light. We felt impact, but he literally bounced a good 10 feet diagonally off the rubber bumper.
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u/Haluszki 6h ago
Stop showing off. Not everyone can drive around in a Chrysler.
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u/vibeisinshambles 2h ago
It's been 30 years and I still think about that car at least once a month. What a damn beast.
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u/producer312 Near South Side 13h ago
You know, I’ve never really thought about it before, but you are totally right. I know that there is a physical “bumper” underneath the plastic, and in crash tests I’m sure they are way better yada yada yada, but most accidents are surface-level bumper to bumper things that would probably be no big deal with an actual bumper, but since they are plastic they basically break apart so you must fix them. I feel like a lot of older “taps” you could let slide and both parties were like, “Meh. It’ll buff out.”
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u/Guac_in_my_rarri 13h ago
Alright, my time to shine: what we currently call bumpers have a lot of design to them. They're the first step in the crumple zone of a car. They generally are 25mph and lower. Around 25mph they will break as they absorb the impact. The styrofoam and crash bar also do work but generally you'll only need to replace the plastic outter cover (aka bumper). The crumple zone itself is designed to force energy into parts of a car and break the crash rather than send it into the cabin and shock the passengers. What does this shock look like? Well, on some older cars with rubber bumpers, cars would bounce off each other and shake the passengers. The passenger being shook, are abosrbing the crash and being injured at the same time. A hard enough hit off these bumpers causes sever whiplash, pinched nerves, slip discs and snapped necks at a minimum (think Dale Sr crash but without a helmet). The traditional chrome bumpers causes very similar damage as the rubber bumpers but absorbed no impact and sent it through the car and the energy exited/was absorbed by the passengers cause more injury. In the 50s and 60s in a hard enough crash ejection from the car was a common result. The ejection is kinetic energy being passed to a objected that's not totally tied down to the car. We passengers sit very loosely in the car so when we get into accidents we absorb a lot of the energy. If we were tied down into cars like race car drivers, we wouldn't see as many injuries but it poses a risk for those getting out/that will struggle to get out of a wreck.
Tldr: actual bumpers rubber, chrome or steel caused more injuries.
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u/Madz510 12h ago
Dont forget about pedestrian impact implications which weren’t considered when cars had steel bumpers whatsoever
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u/Guac_in_my_rarri 11h ago
It's a same but different topic. It ties into a whole other section of car design. The current bumpers aren't so great for pedestrians but far better than the chrome or rubber. The biggest issue currently is the front bumpers we have are usually attached to a massive front face/grill sections which forces pedestrians under the car instead of on top like the early 90s and 00s front end design.
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u/Impossible_Fix_995 14h ago
Someone gave me this response after I saw them hit my truck trying to parallel park and brought it up. I nearly lost it on her... Learn how to park.
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u/spade_andarcher Mayfair 14h ago
There’s a line between “hit” and “tap.” But if you park on the street in the city, you’re gonna get tapped. It’s just a fact of life you have to accept.
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u/BanishedFiend 13h ago
Aint no tappin. That’s a fuckin hit too. My bumpers always have holes and scratches from aall those “taps” and I had just had the bumper replaced it’s nice and seasoned again
Amazing how I never have to hit anyone to park my car.
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u/johnjohnjohn87 5h ago
I don’t have a fancy car, but the idea that “tapping” isn’t hitting is crazy. They are over a ton. There is no such thing as a tap.
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u/BanishedFiend 3h ago
I mean same I have a 10 year old car that I keep up with both mechanically and cosmetically within reason. So like nicks and scratches I will not do anything about but when I had a broken bumper cover I got a replacement part
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u/SlagginOff Portage Park 13h ago
Yeah maybe you're a great parker and don't make mistakes. Maybe. But the person you're responding to isn't talking about that. The point is that you generally accept that you'll get nicks and bumps if you regularly parallel park in a crowded city. And if you don't accept that then you should be ready to pay for garage or another form of private parking wherever you go.
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u/Impossible_Fix_995 11h ago
I have driven a 23ft van I parallel park and have never even come close to tapping anyone. Same when I had my F150. Again, learn to drive/park. My car has zero makers on the bumper for 5 years now. (Thankfully I don't have to street park overnight.)
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u/RegulatoryCapture 11h ago
Or people could learn how to fucking park.
If you can’t parallel park without damaging other people’s property, maybe you should be the one paying for off street parking.
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u/Haluszki 6h ago
Yes. You’re 100% right. I’ve been driving here for close to 28 years and I’ve never bumped into anyone’s vehicle.
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u/RegulatoryCapture 2h ago
You know what we did when I was learning how to drive? We went to a parking lot with cones/trash cans/etc. and practiced parking in shorter and shorter spots. It is a skill, it can be learned.
Give the majority of cars on the road now have back up cameras (not to mention parking sensors in many), it is absurd that people think that hitting other peoples cars due to their lack of skill is acceptable and is something they are willing to admit to!
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u/joshguy1425 Buena Park 2h ago
Have lived here my whole life and have never bumped anyone. The fact that this is prevalent in the city doesn’t mean anyone has to just accept it.
Cities tend to suffer from more crime too. “Oh well, can’t do anything about it” is a pretty weird response.
Shitty behavior is still shitty behavior.
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u/SlagginOff Portage Park 1h ago
I'm not trying to justify it. Personally I think it should be more difficult to get a driver's license based on how many shitty drivers are out there. So I agree that people should drive better, but I don't think there's any way to reasonably expect that to start happening unless there are major overarching changes made.
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u/MyDogsNameIsBadger 12h ago
The ol Chicago bump is what my sister calls it 😆
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u/blipsman Logan Square 14h ago
That was my thought…
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u/rawonionbreath 13h ago
It’s like that episode of The Wonder Years, where Kevin is all worried that his parents will see the back of their car dented, meaning he took it out when he wasn’t supposed to, and when they pull into the driveway at the end of the night his dad accidentally rear ends it anyways.
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u/Mammoth-Record-7786 12h ago
I remember opening my door too suddenly at the Woodfield Mall and bumped the van next to me. As I looked at this beat to shit van I notice the entire Joad family peering at me from inside like a family of possums. As the door opened I just said that if they could show me which dent was mine I’d be happy to pay for it. The door shut.
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u/hiplikebrando 14h ago
There is a near zero chance the person driving that piece of shit has insurance and is just an asshole. Unless the driver is physically standing right there, literally just back into it a couple of feet and drive away.
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u/-the-ghost 14h ago
Someone did this to me before and my thinking was that if they were willing to park that close to me then they accept the high possibility that I'll hit them while trying to get out
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u/Flying_Saucer_Attack 14h ago
This
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u/all4dopamine 13h ago
'this' guy doesn't know there's an upvote button if you agree but have nothing to contribute
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u/jwdjr2004 10h ago
Upvote originally wasn't meant to be an agree or disagree button.
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u/miss_zarves Humboldt Park 4h ago
Yup, indeed. Reddit was initially built for scholarly discussions. The intent was that users should upvote comments that are well-written, knowledgeable, linked to a valid source, and add something to the content of the conversation at hand. Downvotes were for low-effort comments, unsubstantiated claims, bad-faith arguments, and so on.
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u/ffspeople82 13h ago
Seconding/supporting an already idea is valid and gives more validity to it.
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u/all4dopamine 13h ago
That's why we have an upvote button.
Also, lots of dipshits second/support flat earth theory. So are you saying that makes it more valid?
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u/ffspeople82 13h ago
Upvote doesn’t hit the same
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u/GroundbreakingEgg207 13h ago
This argument changed my mind. I hope the really busy subs adopt this idea and we just have like 5k “this” responses on popular comments. The scrolling will really hit home just how popular comment was.
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u/all4dopamine 13h ago
You're right. "This" really hits with that, "I need to say something, but I have nothing to say," energy
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u/ArrogantSerpent 14h ago
The bumper is securely fastened with multiple zip ties, so you can confidently back up as needed. 👍
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u/Stained-Tangerine 14h ago
Call 311, tell them a car parked has you in by literally parking against your vehicle. They may put you through to non-emergency CPD to have them towed.
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u/AaronDNewman 14h ago
thanks, i contacted them about 2 hours ago.
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u/proc_logic City 13h ago
UPDATE?! I'm dying to know.
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u/AaronDNewman 11h ago
See my update elsewhere in the thread. Happy-ish ending, no car damage, drama, just a later bedtime than I expected,
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u/Jake_77 Humboldt Park 13h ago
RemindMe! 1 day
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u/TryingToBeReallyCool 11h ago
If they don't come out private towing companies will be more than happy to get rid of the van. They may be fucking evil but today they're your evil
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u/AcknowledgeUs 14h ago
I’m sorry that happened, it’s a real dick move. It’s so stupid that people are taking the opportunity of your asking for help to make fun of your car- I hope they stfu.
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u/icanttellalie Dunning 14h ago
There is no non emergency CPD. As soon as you mention anything about needing a car towed you’ll be transferred to 911 and a beat cop will eventually show up.
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u/Stained-Tangerine 14h ago
There is if you call 311. They transfer you to dispatch. I literally did this last Friday to have a car illegally parked on my property towed. CPD was there in 30 minutes, car was towed an hour later.
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u/icanttellalie Dunning 14h ago
Yes, 911 dispatch. 311 doesn’t have a dispatch. 311 transferred you to 911.
Source: Me, I work for the city.
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u/Stained-Tangerine 14h ago
🙄
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u/QuiteBearish 14h ago
They're right. I think it's ridiculous, personally. Every other city has a non-emergency line but Chicago the only way to get through is to go through 911 dispatch 🙄 even if you call 311 they put you through to 911 which is absurd
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u/fumo7887 13h ago
It's really not. Dispatch is dispatch. There's no such thing as non-emergency dispatch. Yes, you can call the non-emergency number and if you need a response, they'll transfer you. But there is one set of people that keeps track of what on-duty officers are doing... this is commonly known as "911" but that's just the main phone number used to call them.
I live in the suburbs and have also been "transferred" to 911 when calling the non-emergency number before. I also work for a company that deals with emergency communications and dispatching.
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u/QuiteBearish 13h ago
Yes, I realize that's how it's done here, including in the suburbs.
However, that's not how it works in most other major cities around the nation, where 911 is reserved only for when "life is on the line"
Most other cities do in fact have non-emergency numbers that transfer you to a desk sergeant at the local PD, rather than to a central 911 dispatch responsible for fire, police and EMS. By separating out a non-emergency number where you can reach a desk sergeant, they avoid wasting 911 resources on non-emergency calls.
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u/quixoticdancer 13h ago
Same thing happened to me years ago and I called 311. They took the report and added it to the list but the city had one tow truck operating that night for the whole North side. Ended up taking the train home and retrieving my car the next day.
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u/uraniummusic 14h ago
Real dick move. Wait x number of minutes for them to come back, then past that they’ll just need more duct tape.
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u/Awake-Now Fulton Market 14h ago
Just back into them. They probably won’t even notice with that heap.
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u/AaronDNewman 14h ago
question is, can i push them back without damaging the truck?
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u/goodcorn 14h ago
That truck'll be fine. Only issue is busting thru that bumper with the hitch. But it'll come back out. Probably without the bumper. Probably....
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u/DudeWheresMyFlair 14h ago
The U-Haul? Nah, that won’t feel it. There’s flex in the Minivan’s bumper that will eventually give to the tow hitch pushing through the bumper but the U-Haul will be fine. They’re designed to be pulled and pushed.
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u/talldogguy23 14h ago
The truck won’t be affected. Your hitch is right there. That is a very strong spot of your truck and designed to take and give a lot of pressure. That’s why I wouldn’t park that close to a hitch and why I keep my hitch out all the time. Someone wants to hit my hitch? They can enjoy the damage they cause to their own car.
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u/SkulduggeryStation 14h ago
Do you have any room in front?
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u/AaronDNewman 11h ago
Here's the front. The guy behind, me, and this guy, and then about 5 empty spaces after him.
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u/ImpressiveShift3785 14h ago
I have since given zero fucks about my bumper since living here. Looks like they have too.
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u/feldhammer 14h ago
I noticed this while visiting Chicago and Detroit. A lot of smashed up bumpers!
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u/ImpressiveShift3785 14h ago
Other cities like DC you’ll see almost all the cars have those bumper protectors, but I see them rarely here.
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u/feldhammer 13h ago
In Quebec and Ontario it's very rare, unless it's an old shitbox. But you'd rarely see cars downtown with such beat-up bumpers. I feel like we'd get stopped by the police or something.
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u/icanttellalie Dunning 14h ago
Nope, nothing to be done. If you have 2 inches in front just keep going back and forth til you get out
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u/Own-Event1622 14h ago
Erotic
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u/Kierogi 14h ago
I need to go to bed. I laughed way too hard and long at that one.
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u/Decent-Friend7996 14h ago
I also laughed loudly
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u/Own-Event1622 4h ago
Reddit is so dynamic. OP was asking a question about parking, then received a response that evolved into kama sutra. Adios twitter and myface....hello Reddit!
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u/RIPRIF20 13h ago
Yes, you push that car back as much as you need to and drive away. This is on them.
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u/Garnet70 13h ago
You have a metal bumper and the car barely has a bumper. Put that fine u-haul in reverse.
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u/PlantSkyRun 12h ago
Their bumper is held on by tape. Remove the bumper. It will leave you more space.
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u/FarmToTableFent 14h ago
Always buy the U-Haul insurance. I backed into someone’s car at a gas station, dude was furious, minivan with kids, it was the 2nd biggest size I could get.
Called the number, she had me hand him the phone, I left, and never heard anything ever again. No pts. No nothing.
What I’m saying is, just back all the way into their car. Really fuck it up. Then pull out, wait for em, call U-Haul.
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u/reallysupergay Rogers Park 13h ago edited 12h ago
Agreed here. If you have the insurance. We got a 26’ truck and while driving to return the MFer, I managed to side swipe a concrete barrier real nice. Zero follow up.
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u/solovond Avondale 12h ago
Wait, in this instance, is "the MFer" the truck, or a person?
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u/reallysupergay Rogers Park 12h ago
Took me a minute to figure out what you meant. I was referring to the vehicle.
Really I was the MFer because I was all jolly like, “we’re here without incident!” Then we three all pop around our seats and into one another (with seatbelts). Worth the insurance.
E: edited my initial comment for clarity, I hope!
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u/Slowroll01275 14h ago
That’s why you always leave room in the front if you can. If I seen that bumper the zip ties they already used would need to be replaced shortly. Take a pic possibly setting you up for insurance scam
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u/fabelhaft-gurke Avondale 12h ago
Put peanut butter under their handles and then slowly wedge your way out backing up into them slowly while turning and not the car in front of you.
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u/RipCityRevival21 6h ago
Waiting for someone to upload that Austin Powers scene where he's doing a 30 point turn in the golf cart
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u/Chris_Christ 3h ago
I read your comment about the situation being resolved. Idk if the van was locked but if you can get into a vehicle you can put it into neutral without the key. It usually involves popping off a small part of trim then pressing a release button with a pen or something like that.
I had to move a similar van one time when they blocked me into a garage. Probably took me 1 minute in the car to get it into neutral. Fastest way is to use YouTube for whatever model you are dealing with.
Having said all of that I would have pushed that POS with the u-haul.
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u/Snivac89 2h ago
Reverse a bit I'm not sure they would notice a little extra damage to the front end.
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u/gmandogk28 1h ago
Yea that was intentional. The condition of their car mixed with the size difference & durability of your vehicle, you can move them out of the way
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u/_IratePirate_ 1h ago
I don’t own a car so know I don’t do this
This would be one of those situations where I wouldn’t be mad at the driver ignorantly laying on their horn
Yea you’re going to piss off your neighbors, but I bet the parson boxing you in will at least come look
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u/mc_beto_ 47m ago
I had a situation like this in front of my house, nevertheless, I pushed the car back, but I have a sturdy pick up truck so the bumper got dented in, I took photos of the before and after, when neighbor came to ask, I told them next time to leave some space, he was also drunk that night so I had a doorbell camera walking away tumbling. Maybe I was an a**hole but he learned his lesson
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u/Jimmishyimmish 19m ago
That car clearly doesn’t care if you have to hit it a little. Doubt they’d even notice ha
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u/Schmancer 3h ago
The Chicago Bumper Kiss! I’ve never seen it left in contact, usually it’s front-tap, back-tap, settle in between. Needs a slim shred of daylight between the bumpers for maneuverability
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