Why Do They Do That?

It happened again today. I was backing my car out of a parking space, and several people walked behind the car while it was moving. Why do they do that? One has to presume they also have backed their cars out of spaces and had near misses with pedestrians. Do people disconnect from the world around them in the short time it takes to get out of their own cars and walk through the parking lot? I think people just don't think. I have had similiar things happen when backing into parking spaces.

The other day, a car drove behind me as I was backing into a parking space. Last year, a car pulled in behind me as I was turning my pickup truck around at a gasoline pump. I did not see her car and backed into it. Then she accused me of causing the accident. Fortunately, a witness came to my rescue, telling me it was not my fault. A week later, I was backing my van into a parking space at work, and a man pulled his car into the space. I parked and told him what he had done. He had no idea he might have caused an accident. Recently, I observed a car back out of a parking space and hit another car, which had just backed out of its space. I have also seen several accidents involving cars that backed out of opposite spaces in parking lots at the same time.

SUV's, pickups and vans do not have the best visibility. The next time people cross behind me while I am backing up my vehicle, I think I will honk the horn like a nut so they actually see me coming. Then maybe their thinking might be, "Oh my, that man is trying to hit me with his car." At least it will get their attention, and in the future, they may stop walking behind vehicles which are backing up because they may contain crazy drivers trying to run them down.

I don't think I'll ever know why they do that.