[paxys]

I have found that across most of the world (including expensive "first world" countries in Europe) it is perfectly normal for cars to have random dings and bumps from everyday use. I had a tour guide in Italy who "nudged" the cars on either end while getting into a parking spot and no one thought twice about it. In the US it would have caused a mini riot.

Over here for some reason it is socially unacceptable to have a car in less than pristine factory condition even after months or years of use, and people will spend thousands to fix the tiniest of scratches. It's crazy just how much of the average person's paycheck goes towards just getting from one place to another.

[mattlondon]

In the UK this would be deeply frowned upon. Front + Rear dashcams would be used to claim on insurance and report a "hit and run" accident to the police.

I don't put it down to people trying to "make space", more down to incompetence IMO.

At least in the UK cars will generally be parked with the handbrake ("emergency brake" in the US AIUI) engaged, meaning that the back wheels will not move, so "nudging" a car will only damage it - if you are "nudging" hard enough to make the stationary wheels slide along tarmac, then that is quite some considerable force. A "little bump" can be enough to cause some expensive damage on modern cars.

So if you are "nudging" another car, I'd put it down to just being a bit of a crap driver who doesn't know what they're doing as you're basically simply driving into things (deliberately or accidentally)

[jstanley]

> A "little bump" can be enough to cause some expensive damage on modern cars.

But the point is it's only expensive because people insist on repairing minor cosmetic damage to factory condition.

If people just accepted that when they leave giant objects lying around in public then they're going to get scratched occasionally, it would be cheaper and easier for everyone.

[stank345]

I think it depends on population density as well. I grew up in a rural area in the US and now live in Philadelphia on a tiny side street barely two cars wide. Every single car on our street has scratches/small dents on the bumper and fender from others parallel parking. If you live here you have to accept that "bumpers are for bumping"!

[mattlondon]

I did not mean minor cosmetic things.

I mean broken lights, broken parking sensors, broken washer jets, damaged number plates etc. Modern bumpers are designed to prevent injuries to pedestrians - it may "look fine" from the outside but internal mounting brackets etc may be bent out of alignment or otherwise damaged. These are all expensive to put right.

[n4r9]

It's not normal in the UK to ever touch another car with your own. However I have heard that it happens in some towns/cities on the continent. I'm guessing they park on flat roads and leave the handbrake off. No idea how a car is supposed to escape if it's wedged between two others though.

As for dashcams, don't these normally switch off while the car is parked?

[mattlondon]

Most dash cams have a "parking mode" that records a clip if someone hits your car while it is parked.

[philjohn]

The Grand Tour touched on this with their "french cars" episode.

[throwaway0a5e]

Depends on the income level of the locality.

Where most of HN lives, yeah people go crazy over that crap.

Detroit PD would do their best not to laugh at you if you tried to get them to file a police report for a hit and run if "parking bump" was the nature of the hit. And insurance would probably try and stonewall you either way.

[cjrp]

> In the US it would have caused a mini riot.

Is that true everywhere in the US? In NYC I saw a lot of cars with rubber bumper guards, presumably to protect against these little "nudges" when parking.