Hi, forgive me if I am posting in the incorredt area but my daughter has been using my new Civic to go to school on some days and she came home saying that she thinks she sideswiped something and we can't find any scratches or anything on the car. My question is- if she did sideswipe something, wouldn't she have HEARD that? And wouldn't there be a significant marking on the side of the car? She has me all worried now because I don't know what I should be looking for on the car. Is it possible to sideswipe something and NOT feel or hear it? In my mind, I would think that any kind if impact on the car would be notable and obvious. Anybody have any advice? I love my daughter, but it worries me that she doesn't know for sure what happened while she was driving. I'm trying to reassure her some way but the only way to reassure her is to INSIST that she would have known without a shadow of a doubt if she had hit something or not. I have no experience with sideswiping, but my notion was always that any kind of accident, minor or major would be significantly obvious to the driver in some way or another.

Thank you, I know it's an unusual question!

 

If she did hit something you would notice it. She may have just over reacted when she got close to something.

 

Story time from the LBH:

When I fist got my car, I was sittin in a turn lane, minding my own business, doin my own thang. Then a car came up beside and a little behind me in the turn lane on my left. That car, in all it's genious glory, decided it wanted to be where I am, and started to move into my lane.... into me. It stopped the violation of my space when it hit my left rearview mirror. But there was no damage AND I never heard anything.... of course that other car was going pretty slow...

On the other hand, any time *I* ever hit something (and in my olds, hitting things that were not cars was my hobby...) I heard it and there was obvious damage. So my bet would be that she didn't hit anything. She's cool.

As for tips? Just tell her to look in her mirrors, all three, all the time. Every few seconds I'm looking in mine. If you know what you're near, you won't have to worry about what you're going to hit, you only have to worry about what things hit you.

Also, girls can be spacy. It happens, and I can say that cause I am one. The second I gave up talking on my cell while driving (around the same time I got my civic) I became a remarkably better driver. Stress to her that distractions are the number one reason for auto accidents.

That's all I got. Good luck!

 

LBH- So did you FEEL him hit you or SEE it? The way I see it, one of your five senses is bound to pick up on the incident in one way or another. I just didn't want to tell her that until a few people could verify it for me.

 

I saw it, I don't remember feeling anything. But, he only hit my rearview mirror, and it was at like two miles per hour. It was nothing like a sideswipe. I really, really, really dont think that she hit anything. You'd see it.

 

i dont know if u would call this sideswiping cause im not really sure on the term but once this car stop in front of me and I went to the next lane and didnt check my blindspot, my mirror rub agaisnt this suv and I broke my mirror and left a long black paint mark on the side of the suv. I think there tire or something tubed up aginst my the side of my car... but i went home and took some rubbing compound and whiped t off. The only thing i heard when it happend was the mirror braking

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It's kinda scary that you could hit something and not feel it, but the mirror is an extension of the car so it would be less likely to make a sound if that was the only thing that got hit. I'm sure when a car literally sideswipes you, it can be seen/felt/heard. Hopefully seen, that's my big concern with my daughter because if someone did hit her, I'd want her to report it. Or if she hit something, I'd want her to take responsibility. So, is it safe to say that whenever a car gets sideswiped (definition: when the car is passing another car too close and SWIPES past the car (side by side) and hits it) that the rearview mirrors will almost ALWAYS be affected? Our Civic has very plastic rearview mirrors, and the mirrors would be the FIRST thing to hit the car in a sideswipe situation, so I'd imagine that would be the first place to start looking for damage right? I want to be able to convince my daughter once and for all that she would ALWAYS be aware somehow if she hit another vehicle. Metal on metal has to make a loud loud noise, and would most likely shake your car a little.
Thank you guys. You've been very helpful.

 

Is it possible that she either..

A - Had a big truck, van, or SUV drive by her at a high rate of speed which in turn "shook" the car side to side?
or
B - Drove past a parked car (or something big) too close and got the same effect as A?

 

I have similar issues. Ever since I got my new Civic, I feel like I've become a different kind of driver. I second guess myself constantly, and I feel like I get in more close calls with the new car than I ever did with my older ones. I don't want to mess this car up because messing it up means bringing it to a body shop and risk more damage. Just yesterday, I had to manuever into my driveway awkwardly because my sister was one the leftmost side and she didn't pull up all the way, so I made a WIDE right turn into the driveway, and then cut my wheel to the right to manuever back on the side I needed to be on. I drove really slow to make sure I didn't hit my front bumper, and got myself parked. IMMEDIATELY, I had this feeling that I should not have done it that way. It seemed possible at the time, but then I began worrying about whether I sideswiped my sister's car with the backside of my car while I was focusing so much on the front side. It's been raining all week and I still haven't had the chance to really check for damage. I didn't hear anything, or feel anything, and I was going pretty slow. What do you guys think? Am I overly paranoid or did I make the wrong choice in how I parked in the driveway? I was so obsessed with making sure the front end made it through okay that I didn't realize that the back end of my car could have tapped my sister's car. How likely is that? And if it did happen, would I have heard it or felt it? Thanks!

Regards,
Paranoid Civic Owner #2

 

And what would it LOOK like if a car had an impact with another car? Would it be a scuff, or a crack, or dent? Or all of the above? I got it in my head that if I hit something even slightly that it would only leave a small, hairline mark on the car. Is that possible? If so, that sucks because I'd rather have the damage stand out so I can have a good reason to fix it, then to have hairline scratches that you didn't see until later.