Originally Posted by
Equinox
I was riding on the shoulder on a fairly busy village street. I unintentionally (of course) hit a stone which shot out to the side just as car was passing me and it dinged the door. It did make a loud noise, and the driver pulled over in front of me, slightly cutting me off. I stopped, and he got out and he was upset. There was a very small chip in the paint. I apologized, and assured him that it was completely unintentional and simply bad luck. He wanted my information because he wanted me to be responsible for the repair. I declined because from my perspective, it was just "one of those things". He got upset and was going to call the police. I thought it was ridiculous and I wasn't going to wait for the cops on a busy holiday weekend. I gave him my name and phone number, but I haven't heard from him yet. What should I do?
Ignore him. If a stone chip flies up off the road and hits the car it's something you get to deal with, whether it causes a stone chip or shatters the windscreen. If the car in front flicks up a stone chip you don't expect them to stop and give you their details so they can pay for the repairs.
Depending on where you live you could even point out that the fact the stone hit him suggests he was passing you too close.