Hit and run. Help. Pics

[azjake]

Shadow as previously mentioned the police will not be able to get the driver for DUI after the fact.
However for insurance purposes you said you were rear ended and that almost always makes the other person at fault.
As long as the other driver admits to the accident, you should be okay.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: JTK
^ I hear you, but what can you legally do, snatch the keys out of some stranger's ignition to force them to stay on scene?


If they are drunk I would.

 

[Tdbo]

You absolutely need to call your insurance company to preserve your rights. Been there, done that.
New Years Eve 1988, I took my mother over to her Cousins house. My cousin and I went to a new Years Eve party in her car, and left my Accord parked legally in front of their house.

We came back from the party and found a Sheriff cruiser with flashing red lights on the street.
Seems that the next door neighbors well lubricated son took her new Toyota truck and went on a drunk. He proceeded to plow into my Accord, and ended up taking a spin over the curb on the other side of the street and ran over a no parking sign, and was attempting to take off. My mother (in one of her not so bright moments) ran out of the house, yanked open the truck door and attempted to grab the keys to the truck. Upon opening the door, beer cans rolled out of the cab. He managed to take off while they were struggling. Fortunately, she was not injured. While this was going, her Cousin called the Sheriff, and the deputy assigned to the village came immediately.

By the time that we got there, Sheriff Roscoe (no, I'm not exaggerating) had the driver in the front of the patrol car. He was obviously inebriated, but there would be no justice because there was a "gap" in the period of time before he took him in custody. According to my mother and her Cousin, he returned back to the house with a drunk in half an hour. He did bust him for hit and run. Roscoe insisted that he was insured and I would be fine (talk about hometown "Justice.") At that point, I was losing my cool so I stepped aside and let the joker finish the report.

On the first business day (Monday,) I called my State Farm agent and reported the incident. Tuesday (at work,) I get a call from Grange Insurance (their company) stating that they refuse the claim because the driver of the truck was specifically excluded from the policy. To make a long story short, I ended up being fully reimbursed personally by the woman for the repair, a rental, plus a couple hundred for my inconvenience. That doesn't happen often.

Let your insurance company handle it. That's why you pay for the coverage.

 

[BAJA_05]

In my state leaving the scene of an accident is an automatic 6 month loss of license. Hopefully they had legit/up to date insurance & will pay for your damage. I would keep in contact with the police on a weekly basis to see how they are proceeding.

 

[Kruse]

ALWAYS get a police report. I had a coworker who was on his way to work and an oncoming car cross the center of the street and hit him. The driver happened to be a 16 year-old girl. She begged him not to call the cops and said that her parents had lots of money and would pay for this out of pocket. He refused and got the police to come out and investigate the accident. About a month later, he was sued by the girl's mom, who just happened to be an ambulance-chaser lawyer. Luckily, the lawsuit went nowhere, thanks to my coworker calling the cops.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: SevenBizzos
I had nearly this exact scenario happen to me. I learned a lot about the laws through the process.

While the license plate capture does help, the driver is the guilty party. You need an iron clad lock on their description. A hit and run that does not result in death isn't much of a crime here. It's not going to be a top priority for police. In my case, the same police department that responded to the accident picked up the owner of the vehicle on a drunk driving charge a couple of weeks later and didn't even bother with the hit and run accusation.

This is covered under the uninsured motorist part of your policy. You're likely just going to have to work through your insurance company on it.

You made the police report and they have the information. As much as you think you want "justice" here, it's probably not going to happen.


The registered owner of the Pilot is usually liable, regardless of who was driving.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: SevenBizzos
I had nearly this exact scenario happen to me. I learned a lot about the laws through the process.

While the license plate capture does help, the driver is the guilty party. You need an iron clad lock on their description. A hit and run that does not result in death isn't much of a crime here. It's not going to be a top priority for police. In my case, the same police department that responded to the accident picked up the owner of the vehicle on a drunk driving charge a couple of weeks later and didn't even bother with the hit and run accusation.

This is covered under the uninsured motorist part of your policy. You're likely just going to have to work through your insurance company on it.

You made the police report and they have the information. As much as you think you want "justice" here, it's probably not going to happen.


The registered owner of the Pilot is usually liable, regardless of who was driving.


That's what happened in our case. The owner of the vehicle that hit and ran was I guess assumed to be the guilty driver. The onus was on her to free her name and pass it to the appropriate party.

The vehicle owner and driver were summoned to court. We did not have to go. They were in trouble, the owner's insurance ultimately paid.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: SevenBizzos
I had nearly this exact scenario happen to me. I learned a lot about the laws through the process.

While the license plate capture does help, the driver is the guilty party. You need an iron clad lock on their description. A hit and run that does not result in death isn't much of a crime here. It's not going to be a top priority for police. In my case, the same police department that responded to the accident picked up the owner of the vehicle on a drunk driving charge a couple of weeks later and didn't even bother with the hit and run accusation.

This is covered under the uninsured motorist part of your policy. You're likely just going to have to work through your insurance company on it.

You made the police report and they have the information. As much as you think you want "justice" here, it's probably not going to happen.


The registered owner of the Pilot is usually liable, regardless of who was driving.


No the owner is not liable, the person driving is liable, but if the driver is a permissive user the vehicle owners insurance will pay as primary (generally). However if the driver was not a permissive user then the company can deny coverage. If the vehicle owners insurance successfully denies coverage, you still have the option (generally) of going after the driver.

This could vary state to state based on statutory differences (EG Negligent Entrustment) or policy language but is generally true. This is why your insurance does not pay if your car is stolen and in an accident, because the thief was not a permissive user.

Other cases where the driver was not a permissive user may be a driver exclusion. These come into play when a driver in the household is not a good risk and the vehicle owner agrees not to allow that person to drive the vehicle in return for a lower premium or the ability to remain insured. Vehicle owners may also provide limited permission - for instance if you loan you vehicle to a co worker and say “Only go to Kroger, no where else” and they wreck it after leaving Anthony’s pub then you company could deny coverage to the party the co worker hit. Similar if you say to your co worker “Do not let anyone else drive it” and it gets wrecked leaving Kroger with the co workers son driving, your company could deny coverage to the party the coworkers son hit.

 

[alarmguy]

Bottom line is the OP has no interest in reporting the incident to the insurance company.
If he had collision his insurance company would pay and go after the other company for payment plus the deductible.
If he doesnt have collision, he is stuck, his insurance will submit it for him to the other company or he can contact the other company directly.
Once a company is aware they will fall all over your to get your car fixed, if it went down as you say.

Bottom line is, you should report it to your company to protect yourself from them suing you and why you have insurance.
I know in your case, they will not but there are some wacky things that go on out there.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: SevenBizzos
I had nearly this exact scenario happen to me. I learned a lot about the laws through the process.

While the license plate capture does help, the driver is the guilty party. You need an iron clad lock on their description. A hit and run that does not result in death isn't much of a crime here. It's not going to be a top priority for police. In my case, the same police department that responded to the accident picked up the owner of the vehicle on a drunk driving charge a couple of weeks later and didn't even bother with the hit and run accusation.

This is covered under the uninsured motorist part of your policy. You're likely just going to have to work through your insurance company on it.

You made the police report and they have the information. As much as you think you want "justice" here, it's probably not going to happen.


The registered owner of the Pilot is usually liable, regardless of who was driving.


That wasn't how it works in my case. Heck, I found the car at a gas station in town and called the police. The officer and I were standing right at the car, but because I didn't have an exact description of the driver (other than middle aged white guy with glasses and a beard), there wasn't anything they could do. It was a matter that my insurance was to handle.

States vary on laws, for sure. I just know that if it happens again, I'm chasing them down, consequences be [censored].

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: alarmguy

Bottom line is, you should report it to your company to protect yourself from them suing you and why you have insurance.
I know in your case, they will not but there are some wacky things that go on out there.


I agree, but I'd say the Police report is 10x more important in this respect.

I had claims where cars had drifted out of their lane and hit the vehicle next to them. Based off pictures it wasn't 100% clear to me who caused the accident. I'd get a recorded statement from each party and they would both fight to the death that the other person was at fault. Without video evidence or a witness it basically becomes a he said she said argument and unless the police report says differently (they often did, or provided more info) the fault would be determined as 50/50.