IMHO, hit and run drivers are the absolute scum of humanity. Relatedly, anyone who drives without insurance AND refuses to leave a note after hitting someone is also scum.
I just got hit for the second time in about a year, last night (I got hit in the exact same place just before Christmas, 2018). My apartment requires you to parallel park, and apparently some people just can’t handle that kind of pressure. Last time it was a scratch, and I had to pay my $500 deductible to get it fixed. The lady was drunk off her ass and refused to knock on my door, despite neighbors telling her to. I only knew it was her because of said neighbors. She lied about having insurance to the cop, and since I didn’t know about the damage when it happened, she couldn’t get written up for drunk driving.
This time it’s a huge dent and a busted headlight, and I have no idea who is responsible. I’m getting a police report made after work (wasn’t going to lose half a day of pay when I’m already having to pay for the damage), but assuming they never find out who did it (or, like before, they have no insurance/no money), I’m looking at another $500. And that’s WITH uninsured motorist coverage.
Considering paying more for a lower deductible, but not sure how worth it it’ll be. Also considering moving, but God damn is that a hassle.
I get this happens, and I’m far from the only one, but I’m so fucking pissed off. I’m a very cautious driver, even overly so a lot of the time. In about 17 years of driving, I’ve never gotten a single traffic violation. Obviously mistakes can be made, I totally get that, but you own up to it if you have *any *sense of responsibility at all.
Anyone else here dealing with the same bullshit, or has in the past? Did you go to court? Please enthrall me with your tales of holy retribution while I stew in my own pissy angst. Thx.
Sorry to hear about that. I’ve heard some dashcams have the ability to record when the car gets bumped. Install one with front and back cameras and you might be able to catch the person if it happens again. But unfortunately, probably your best bet is to park somewhere else or move. It sounds like either the people and/or the parking environment lends itself to this kind of stuff. I’ve also seen these kinds of things you can use to protect your bumper from some of this kind of damage: Rear Bumper Protection - Page 1 - EuroBumperGuard
One time, a car backed into my car. The driver then commented that the legal system would consider me to be at fault because the evidence would show a collision of my car’s front with their car’s rear, which would resemble a rear-ender rather than her backing into me.
Another time, I was at a red light, some car rear-ended me then drove off. My car was mostly fine but my spine was jarred hard (I have a history of back pain,) fortunately that seemed to heal too.
Third time, someone backed their truck into my car, when I confronted him, he then raged at me “do you have photos?? evidence??” and huffed off.
You know, I can’t believe it, but I somehow totally forgot about the existence of dash cams :smack: I’m going to look into getting at least a forward-facing one. What I think happened was someone was either pulling into or exiting out of (most likely the latter) the space ahead of me, and hit my headlight. A dash cam probably would have been able to get their license plate. At the very least, I’d have the make and model.
I probably should have gotten one after the last incident, but I made a lot less then than I do now, so it wasn’t really an option. This time, I feel like I’m done fucking around.
I truly can’t even imagine having the gall to hit someone else, and your very first thought being, “Y’know, I could totally blame you for a crime I just committed.” That’s insane!
I had one guy start backing out immediately after I pulled in behind them. He probably did check initially, but right after I put my car in park he started backing up. Luckily he was going slow, and stopped the second he bumped me (I didn’t even have time to hit the horn). He got out and apologized profusely. We both checked and there was no damage, so it wasn’t an issue. But that’s why going slow is SO important.
Not quite a retribution story but satisfying to me in it’s own way.
I’m inside my home when I hear the sound of a thumping collision from out front where I park my truck on the street. By the time I get outside, there are no other cars in the area and no witnesses so no chance for an ID of the car/driver that just sideswiped my truck. My driver’s side mirror was gone, the corner of the bumper was pulled forward about a foot and the already rusty, battered fender was certainly worse off than it was before. Cops summoned and report made. Yada yada, don’t call us… I had no collision coverage so my repair cost was out of pocket. I ended up replacing the mirror from a wrecked, donor truck my BIL owned and hammering the bumper back into place that afternoon. To this day, I’ve not repaired the rest of the damage.
Two days after the collision, my door bell rings. I open the door to find a scared looking teenage male on my porch. Behind him, on the street is a moderately nice looking classic Dodge Challenger. The car was apparently in mid restoration judging from the visible Bondo rust repairs and the amount of primer visible on the paint. The car had nice straight lines though except for the seriously crumpled front passenger fender and missing headlight. Instantly, the kid leaps into a tearful apology and tries to explain that he just panicked when the accident happened and he’ll pay for my repairs and please-oh-please don’t be mad.
One other interesting feature of the car was the tall man with the salt and pepper beard, crew cut hair and a very serious expression on his face, leaning up against the Challenger’s passenger door and holding what looked like a salvage yard replacement for my mirror. I’m not sure why he was there. He never said a word. He never moved a muscle. Maybe he was just making sure that Jr actually spoke with me. Maybe he was making sure that I didn’t kill him with a baseball bat. I wasn’t in a hurry to find out so I kept my voice level and my tone professional. We talked a bit, I accepted his apology and declined the offer of the replacement mirror since I already had one. We shake hands and part company. I haven’t been compensated in any way but I consider the matter fairly resolved.
Two days later, I come home and there is a straight, freshly painted front bumper for my truck leaning against my front door. No note, no explanation. I just smile and reach for my toolbox.
With all you’re dealing with at this apartment complex, maybe moving is the easiest solution to it all. Knock out a handful of problems at once. But the downside is we wouldn’t be able to hear about all this crazy kind of stuff once you’re in a safe, well-run complex
Alpha - what an interesting story! I’m picturing the kid coming clean to his dad, since that much damage is hard to hide, and him making sure his son owns up to what he did and puts effort into making it right.
No kidding! Nothing like this happened the three years I lived in the expensive side of town. Stopped being able to afford that when my room mate moved out.
There’s a thread about Teslas where it’s mentioned that they come with security cameras that can be set to record any incidents when they are parked. That’d be sweet.
If you can pay for the repairs yourself, I’d suggest you do so. Sucks - but your insurance company is going to a) jack your rates up, or b) drop you like a hot potato with leprosy if you have multiple claims :(.
Re the title of the OP: I heartily agree but for stronger reasons… a friend of ours was the victim of a hit and run… which we found out when the police tracked down his brother to notify him that the friend was in the ICU and being declared brain-dead :(.
I’m so sorry about your friend. That’s beyond awful. Did he ever recover, and did they find the person who hit him?..
My insurance actually isn’t that awful. Had them since I started driving. My deductible is high, which I’m considering lowering to $250 after this. But I went through everything with them last year when the same thing happened, and they were pretty chill. They don’t jack up my rates since this isn’t my fault, and even pay for a free rental. I still gotta pay $500, which totally sucks, but if I didn’t go through them I’d have to pay for the whole repair. Last time it was $766 for a few scratches. I’ll find out what this total repair cost is down the road, but at least I know I’m only stuck with $500. They also work directly with my car dealer/repair shop (the one I’m taking my car to is both - I actually bought the car through them, too), so I don’t have to pay for the whole thing and wait to be reimbursed. The whole thing would be pretty painless, if only I knew who TF hit my car and if they have insurance :mad:
Yes, my grandmother was walking across the street when she was struck. There were several witnesses so the police caught the guy quickly. He turned out to be a teenager who didn’t even have a driver’s license. I don’t know what became of him.
