Dumb, make that STUPID, very lucky, and then unlucky

[eightsandaces]

My sister rolled what was going to be my first car (Abarth 1000, 850 spider) into the neighbors garage and totaled it. I ended up with a 1.1 Opel Kadette, thanks Sue! I always leave my car in gear, if it's on a steep incline reverse or first, having said that you got off very light given the situation. A new tail light, rear bumper cover and repair to under laying bumper shouldn't be too fierce.

[Frodo]

Yeah, ditto that on leaving it in a low gear (especially parking on a hill)--just some added insurance against such misadventures! It's not like you can accidentally start the car in gear with the clutch engaged.

[JTP]

What a bummer, it's always more painful when you've got no one to blame but yourself. At least no one was hurt.
This type of situation was my constant worry when I had my 914 with no hand brake. Parking became a sort of daily ritual as I always seemed to have to park on a steep hill. Pull into the parking space, open door and set my "parking rock" by reaching back and placing it under the rear tire, double check I'm in gear and cut the wheel hard over.

[944boy]

Ouch, at least it wasn't so bad. My truck rolled out of my driveway and parked itself in front of the neighbors garage by about 3". A 2 ton truck could have done a lot of damage.