Hit and run. Help. Pics

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I was rear ended while waiting at the redlight last night. The driver immediately appeared drunk when we got out our cars. I called 911 in hoping that cops will come to facilitate the process.

The passenger of the Honda Pilot that hit me appeared more sobe and he persuaded me not to call the cops because the driver is intoxicated.

Well, the cops took more than 10 minutes and the drunk drove away in the Pilot. I wasn’t able to get their insurance information but I took a photo of their license plate (The cops were able to pull up his information from the license #) Another office went to his house and nobody was home. Cop said he will give me a call me and inform me his insurance info.

So for next time, I will make sure I get the other party’s Insurance information right away.

Any suggestions what to do next? Praying the other driver has insurance and cops will actually follow up with the drunk.

 
Keep on the police department for updates is all you can really do. Since he did a hit and run and was drunk they are probably more likely to want to find him.


As you know if someone who hits you says not to call the cops you never listen to them. While getting the insurance info is preferred, the license plate and police call is important. From my experience in insurance the police can hunt people down with a license plate and vehicle description if they run, but if you just get the insurance card, and it's fake with no other info, you are SOL.
 
Shadow, your insurance should cover your vehicle even if you don't have collision coverage. Uninsured/underinsured riders are almost always required for any auto insurance and one of the "hidden" expenses.

As long as you're OK that's what matters. Cars can be fixed.
 
Originally Posted By: SubieRubyRoo
Shadow, your insurance should cover your vehicle even if you don't have collision coverage. Uninsured/underinsured riders are almost always required for any auto insurance and one of the "hidden" expenses.

As long as you're OK that's what matters. Cars can be fixed.


Yup, but you want to make sure and follow up with the police and make sure the other people are held accountable. Otherwise it goes on your policy as YOU being at fault since there is nobody else to subrogate to and your rates jump.
 
Get the accident report ASAP so that you can review it for any mistakes. Lock into your memory the driver's appearance and details of the accident (I would write them down). Details can matter months from now. Be relentless (within reason) on having the police follow up. The drunk driving charges will not get pursued because there is zero evidence. The other party can say that they stopped, exchanged information and left, negating hit and run charges also. Don't be surprised if they lie.

Your one picture does not show much damage. Uninsured motorist coverage is optional in many states. In the end you might just have to chock it up to a learning experience and go forward from there. Good luck on this.
 
I feel for ya shadow. IMO, there's not much you can do at this point. Police were involved, but I suppose the car that hit you can claim they never did unless there's proof.

Years ago my wife was involved in a similar situation, but she was shoved into the car ahead of her. The car that rear-ended my wife's car sped off. Police were involved, reports written, etc. No real vehicle damage aside from some scratches. Fast forward down the road to 3 days before the 3yr statute of limitations, the car my wife "hit" sued us for an ungodly amount of money, which eventually went to court and we lost. The insurance carrier she had at the time paid for all of it, including the legal costs. For us it was lots of lost time lost from work and tons of stress. It went on for ~6yrs.
 
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Originally Posted By: shadow7
I was rear ended while waiting at the redlight last night. The driver immediately appeared drunk when we got out our cars. I called 911 in hoping that cops will come to facilitate the process.

The passenger of the Honda Pilot that hit me appeared more sober and he persuaded me not to call the cops because the driver is intoxicated.



So what happened? You called 911, and then they told you they were drunk and didnt want to deal with the cops, can we go, and you let them go?

You should NOT have been "persuaded". You should have been insistent that Mr. Drunk sit there and wait for the cops to show up. If you were insistent that they wait, and they ran to the car and sped off, then that kind of stuff happens.

Most likely nothing will come of it. The cop wont be able to arrest for DUI since there never came into contact with the drunk, and at most can just do an after the fact accident report. MAYBE arrest for fleeing the scene of a crash, if the facts support such.
 
^ 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?
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
The other party can say that they stopped, exchanged information and left, negating hit and run charges also.



This is only the case if you notify the police after the accident happened and you already left the scene (some people call the police like a week afterward for some reason). There would be no way for them to do anything or prove it unless you have video evidence. I've dealt with this before a few times. If the OP called the police, they showed up to the accident scene, and the other party was gone, that is leaving the scene.

They can claim they gave info, but obviously if the OP doesn't have it, the police will ask them to provide it to the OP if they claimed to have already given it. It really depends on the police department. Some departments are easier to work with than others. The drunk claim will probably be hard to prove afterward and they won't pursue that. I'm sure the police will be interested in this driver since he left the scene once the police were called. The last claim I had that happen on the guy was tracked down and he had outstanding warrants.
 
They pursuaded me with money but I didn’t trust them, so they decided to run. I will try to be more vocal but I can’t really get physical with 3 people.

The cop gave me the case number but that’s no use without knowing other person’s insurance #?

My car is dented and paint peeled off but I don’t really want to get my own insurance involved ( increased premiums) since it’s nothing major.
 
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You did all you could, at least you got their plate...hopefully they have insurance.
 
All I can say is if the police took an accident report which has your vin# on it, your vehicle will soon show as being in accident on Carfax and you will have dimishised value no matter how good it's fixed.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
All I can say is if the police took an accident report which has your vin# on it, your vehicle will soon show as being in accident on Carfax and you will have dimishised value no matter how good it's fixed.


Yup. Everything in this thread really depends on the police department though, and how willing they are to pursue this person, as well as how detailed the report is.

I once waited three months for a police report in order to finish a claim and it literally said "red car hit blue car at ____ intersection" and was written on basically a post-it note.

I've also had police departments who had reports with pictures, names, phone numbers, VIN #'s, and a file with video evidence from the shopping center where the accident occurred.
 
Why wouldn't you get your insurance company involved?
Seriously this rumor of raised rates is crazy, why have insurance. They are your insurance company and especially in a case like this they will pursue the other party for payment, most likely in court as complicated as this may get. Always notify your insurance company if it's not your fault.
I don't usually like to involve police unless you have something like you have.
Alot of people insist on calling police then everyone gets tickets especially for moderate damage.
Don't be afraid of your insurance company they work for you, have lawyers and if it's not your fault, they will go after the money so you don't have too.
Drunk Driving 101 if your drunk leave the scene. Leaving the scene of ac accident is much less severe than drunk driving charges. Even if the cops follow you home if you get there open a beer they can't prove you were drunk while driving.
Had a guy so drunk hit me head on with a car, I was in a big truck literally ripped off his front wheel. He drove the car home on three wheels, the cops literally followed the Groove in the road to his house where he was drinking. Said he fled because he us afraid of truckers. The cop told me they can't get him for drunk driving only leaving the scene of a accident and without injuries, just a misdemeanor.
 
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Your uninsured motorist will pay for it.

Also, make sure to call your insurance company. They will make a claim against the owner of the Pilot(tag info/police report), and his insurance might just pay it off without him/her having any say especially if the damage dollars are not too high.
 
^^This^^ You report it to your insurance provider in the case of a hit and run. My car was hit in a parking lot once. I called my insurance company immediately to ask what to do. They told me to get a police report. I called police. Cop came and looked at damage. Asked a few businesses if they saw anything. Wrote it up and handed me a copy. I took it to my insurance company and they had it fixed within a few weeks. Of course, I had to pay the deductible. My premiums did not go up.

I now have a 0 deductible comprehensive policy so you bet I'll be calling them if it happens again.
 
Do insurance companies report to VA licensing authorities on the vehicles they have insured in the state? They do here ....

No need to wait on the cops for the information. If VA does not have such a database, there is no info for the cops to get ...

Since you have a license plate number, you would likely be able to get whatever information is associated with that license plate number by merely making out an affidavit that the information is required for legal proceedings. They will likely have a form that you fill in the blanks, and give them some money, to process it.
 
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.
 
I'm sorry to hear this happened. If you have a cell phone or someone with you with one, the first action should be to start recording. I haven't done this in the past, but after some lady illegally made a left right in front of me, was cited for such, but then sued my insurance just less than three years later and was able to settle make me angry enough to assume everyone going forward will be a scum bag and not admit to fault.

I'm going to court this week as a witness to some kid who pulled out and I injured a motorcyclist. I assisted the biker and waited for a long time to give the police officer my statement, which was identical to the only other lady who stopped to help (while every other a-hole swerved or drive through the debris so as not to be inconvenienced.)

As it turns out, our eyewitness testimony of the kids fault never made it into the police report! Rumor has it, the officer is related to the kid, but I can't believe an officer would lie like that. If this does turn out to be true (my statement not in the police report) I need to find a way to complain.

Sorry for going off on a tangent. Keep us updated with any developments.
 
We were victims of hit and run in 2016. Like you, I got a snapshot of the license plate, that's the important thing. Police caught up with them - they essentially have a duty to do so. This is one where you DO want to use your insurance. It will keep you from having to pay a huge sum out of pocket, and it will assure that other resources keep after the police and the other driver, insured or not, to pay up. That's something you cant do by yourself.

In our case, the police found the owner of the vehicle, which was a sibling of the driver. Our insurance went after the vehicle owner and the driver's own insurance, and in the end, it was all paid for, we got our deductible back, and our insurance did not go up one cent.

Worst thing that could happen, in case of your insurance not fully following up, is that you will find out who the driver/owner is, and you sue all parties in small claims for your deductible, lost value, insurance increases, etc.
 
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