Parallel Parker From Hell: What Would You Do?
Feb. 25, 2008 — -- For many motorists, it is the maneuver that causes more anxiety and dread than any other — parallel parking.
It is so challenging that "Primetime" made it the centerpiece of a "What Would You Do?" hidden camera experiment.
How will passersby react to a "parallel parker from hell" who backs into a parked car, knocks off the bumper and then just walks away? Will anyone stick up for the unaware owner of the damaged car?
For this experiment, the producers of "Primetime" rigged the front bumper of a car so it would fall off when struck by another car. The bad parallel parker was an actor. Again, our hidden cameras captured witnesses' reactions.
CLICK HERE for more reactions caught on tape!
Passersby were initially startled by the crash, but continued on their way, even as they watched the offending driver leave the scene.
"It was really none of my business," chiropractor Jayne Mizraji told us. "It was really up to [the driver] to decide for herself if she was going to do the right thing and find out who owned the car."
Postal worker Alan Meyers stopped to consider the situation, but thought the driver looked honest, so he continued on his way.
"I didn't do anything. And I've felt bad about it ever since," he admitted.
But we soon encountered people who would help the owner of the damaged car.
When our female actor knocked the bumper off the car behind her and prepared to walk away, passerby Laura Lemaire tried to stop her by offering to help find the owner of the damaged car in a nearby restaurant.
But Lemaire was immediately rebuffed. "No," replied the actor/driver. "You know what? I'll be back in an hour and I'll deal with it then."
She then blamed the broken bumper on the car, not her lousy parking: "What a piece of junk!"
The scene ended with Lemaire walking away in search of the driver of the damaged car and our actor/driver leaving the scene.
Lemaire, a fourth-grade teacher, said it was all a matter of "practice what you teach."
"I tell my fourth-graders, 'do the right thing and think about how you would feel if somebody did this to you,'" she said.
