I Was Involved In A Hit And Run And Need Help With What To Do Next.?
I was rear-ended by someone while pulling a boat. They damaged both of the motors, took off, a witness followed them and came back with the license plate number and left me his information. The police came and took the report. Basically they told me there is nothing I can do because the person driving will deny it and even with a witness it “generally doesn’t get very far”. I went down to the police station and the officer did not follow up on anything. The police won’t give me the car owners information. The boat only has liability insurance and my home and car insurance doesn’t cover it. I just want the person responsible to pay for fixing the motors and I can’t understand why the police won’t follow up at all. Does anyone know what I should do next?
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15 Comments to I Was Involved In A Hit And Run And Need Help With What To Do Next.?
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Same thing happened to my husband.
guy hit my husband, pulled off to the side of the road, slowed down and then buzzed off into traffic.
a witness called in the license plate of the guy & my husband called 911 (b/c you’re supposed to in an accident, irregardless)
so the guy WAS tracked down his story was he went to a parking lot off the Interstate and mike was SUPPOSED to follow this guy.
There happens to be a loophole in the law stating you’re allowed to pull over in a “safe environment” and he hid behind this law to get out of being called a ‘hit & run’ IMO it was a hit & run……..b/c if it wasn’t he would’ve called the police when he was supposedly “stopped at the parking lot”………yeah……..
After 2 weeks of “investigative” work, the police said they could NOT charge him or ticket him for a hit & run.
WHAT YOU DO NEXT…….this is what my husband did..
Call your insurance company, I hope you have uninsured motorist and full coverage?
Yes ,the police can’t give you the other party’s information, you need to request a copy of the accident report. (hopefully there is one)
It will cost $.
The police suggested we go through our insurance company so it didn’t cost us $. I called my insurance company & pretended like I was going to file a claim…..b/c I did’nt know what else to say…..when they found out the story people got into trouble…….
the police were only able to ticket the guy who hit my husband with “driving with a suspended license” – b/c our insurance company got onto the police, he did have a suspended license, btw.
So I suggest you call your insurance company & explain ” i was hit, the guy took off but the witness DID call in the license plate of loser that hit me but the police will not help me will you”
everyone telling you to get a lawyer doesn’t know what they’re talking about. We contacted our attorney in regards to a “hit & run” and he said it is up to the police how, when, where & why they ticket.
He said. She said.
If you have a witness then have the police get their statement. Take them to small claims court.
Live and learn. Get appropriate insurance. (I learned the hard way too.)
Police have much more important things to do than mess with a petty traffic indecent. There are wackos, pervs and thugs out there who need their attention. There isn’t much the police can really do if you think about it. They aren’t private investigators.
Call a lawyer and complain to the Chief of Police.
There should be some marks on that other vehicle which will corroborate the witness.
Give all the information to your insurance and see if they can sort it out for you. Your witness statement should help a lot.
Pay for it out of your own pocket. You don’t have insurance, you don’t get it paid for.
You need get back with your insurance company.
Don’t listen to what the police say, they generally don’t give a sh*t. get a lawyer
Get a lawyer. For starters, the police aren’t doing their job. Where do you live? I’d complain to the mayor.
get an attourney.
I guess the cops arnt everything u once thought. Too bad.
get a lawyer.
call a lawyer.
Call Larry H Parker. He’ll fight for you!!!
I suggest that you contact your auto insurance company and tell them what happened. Your insurance company says that they don’t cover it, but I think they do unless your policy says specifically that it does not cover a vehicle that is being towed. Insurance companies will try and deny claims, but it would be wise for you to read your policy, and if the policy doesn’t contain any statement regarding towing a boat or a trailer, I would push them as hard as I can to get them to pay. Were the insurance company to get involved, they will pay and collect from the insurance company of the owner of the vehicle that hit your motors. The police aren’t doing anything because it take time away from other police duties that have priority over yours. The person who hit your motors is at fault and broke the law by a hit and run. That person may be hard to find because there is no witness to identify who was driving the car. You have one thing that is in your favor, the police took a report. I suggest you phone the police and tell them what happened to you as though you were telling them for the first time and tell them that you have the license number of the hit and run driver and want to know how you can find out who and where the owner of the vehicle is located so you may take a picture of the car that hit your motors because you want to file a claim for damages in small claims court. But before you file a claim in small claims court you may need to have had the repair work done or have three estimates for the repair work so the claim has some dollar amounts that you can claim when you fill out the paperwork for filing the small claim. The judge in small claims court will need this information in order to render a judgment. You will also need a copy of the police report for the judge to see and if you are able to take a picture of the damage to the other vehicle and also your motors, the pictures will help. The fact that the person who was driving the vehicle may deny driving the vehicle, you can still claim that that person was responsible because the vehicle is registered in that person’s name, and unless that person can prove that another person was driving the vehicle, that person is responsible for damages to your motors. The more information you can present in small claims court, the better your chances will be for you to win a judgment against the person who is the registered owner of the vehicle. You may also want to press charges against the registered owner of the vehicle by going back to the police station and telling them that you are going to press charges against the registered owner of the vehicle and you need a copy of the police report because a crime was committed because the driver of the vehicle left the scene of an accident, which is against the law for someone to leave the scene of an accident that was caused by the driver of the vehicle, whomever the driver was. The reason the police told you that it generally doesn’t get very far is because most people don’t want to take the trouble to follow through and and file charges against the registered owner of the vehicle because of the time it may take to get a judgment against the registered owner. You will have to decide if it is worth it to you to use your time to do this or just get the motors fixed and let it go. The fact that it was a hit and run is in your favor, as the courts know that someone broke the law in a hit and run, but it will be up to you to prove that the vehicle that hit your motors is the actual vehicle that did it. That is why it is important to get a picture of the damage to the other vehicle as soon as possible so you have evidence to show the court that that particular vehicle was the vehicle that hit your motors, that along with the license plate number will help your case. Good luck.
You Need To Hire An Attorney.
If you have a witness and a police statement.
The attorney depending who you hire, can and may be able to help you get more information on the driver, so that you can press multiple charges.
A license plate is enough information, if you hire the right kind of attorney and he/she knows what they are doing.
The police can not do anything from this point, other then taking a report down.
They can not legally give you personal information on a driver of another vehicular, for safety and privacy reasons.
Good luck, Hopefully you catch this idiot soon. =-]