Jim got home last night, and seemed a little upset (read: steaming mad). Turns out, someone bashed in the side of our second car some time during the day yesterday, and ran off without leaving any information. The lease on this car just ran out, Jim’s parents want to buy it and kindly offered to take over the buy-out on it, it was due to be taken to them in TWO frinkin’ days, and we just spent $1000 fixing this car up for them. Just after we spent $400 getting the car that we’re keeping fixed up so that it runs again. Now we get to pay our $250 deductible to fix this car AGAIN because some rat-cock couldn’t keep his car under control on the marginally slippery road we live on (or was just so incompetent that he managed to run into a car that was just sitting there), and didn’t have the teeny little balls necessary to leave his driver info behind. Oh, did I mention that I’m unemployed, and my unemployment insurance just ran out (unexpectedly) at the beginning of March? Thanks a lot, you incompetent little pimple-bagged snot-eater; we REALLY needed another $250 touch right now.
Oh yeah, I forgot to add; has anyone tracked down a hit-and-run driver, how did you do it, was it worth it, etc? I have visions of going door-to-door in the neighbourhood and asking everyone if they saw what happened; I don’t expect anyone to do the right thing and confess, but I do hope to make the guilty party feel …well …guilty.
bah featherlou–that stinks! And doesn’t it always seem like these ‘‘big’’ expenses pop up when we’re least able to deal with them? What’s up with that?
As for your neighbors, good luck. Depending on your neighborhood they could be anything from helpful to indifferent to downright hostile. I had the same thing happen a few months ago, drivers side door. Now, it was OBVIOUS from both the way that the dent was angled and the bright red paint left behind that the asshole with the little zippy red car across the street had done it pulling out of his driveway. But when I went to ask if they knew anything (noting the smashed tail light on his car as I did) they didn’t have a clue. Imagine that! :rolleyes:
The car was a beater, and my insurance less than stellar, so I simply let it go. But I still have fantasies where I pour gallons of sugar into his gastank.
Here’s hoping that if you try, you’ll have better luck.
bella
My friends’ sister was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Greenwich Village. What a nightmare. They did catch the guy, thanks to witnesses and evidence left at the scene (when there is a death, police pursue it aggressively).
They guy jumped bail, and there is a special place in hell reserved for him.
I’d put notes in your neighbor’s boxes to see if anyone heard or saw anything. Maybe it won’t turn up anything, but you never know. Also, it could have been a neighbor or a friend of a neighbor, and at the very least they’ll have the discomfort of knowing someone is looking for them.
Jim and I were discussing what the police would do if we brought them a lead; he figures they wouldn’t bother doing anything (hit-and-run dents being pretty low on the priority list), but I think if you provided them with a neighbour’s car with a fresh dent in it, they would at least go ask the neighbour about it. Slip Mahoney, we need you in here!
(Sorry to hear about your friend’s sister, Cranky. That gives us a little perspective - at least no one was hurt in this PITA incident.)
Many many years ago, like 20, my car skidded in a parking lot and didn’t quite stop in time. It lightly hit another cars bumper causing no noticable damage. I seriously hit this other car at about 2 mph. Being young and stupid, I left my number and a letter explaining what happened. Next thing I knew, they hit my insurance company for major, major repairs. The insurance agent thought it was crap but the company paid it off.
Of course, my already outrageous insurance rate (20 year old male) skyrocketed even more. In 1984, I was paying $1700 per six months for a Ford Pinto!
Fast forward 4 years.
While backing out of a spot, I hit another car. Stupid, stupid!! This time I hit the driver side front panel leaving a scratch. Not bad, but a scratch. Thinking back to what happened 4 years earlier, I just drove away.
It was wrong, yes but I didn’t have the money to deal with another ass reaming.
After my car got hit by a hit & run driver (It was parked on the street and he hit the left front fender, then bounced off, went a half a block and drove up into a yard and knocked the porch off of a house. Then he backed up and drove off before anyone could get close enough to get his plates.) I talked to my insurance agent about finding the guy. He said the company would look and wanted to find him, so they could get their money back and could get mine back. If you do find out anything, the first person I would call would be my insurance agent, then the police.
Well, I made up a flyer describing what happened, adn stating that we are prepared to pay a $75 reward to someone who rats out the driver who did this, and put it up on all the superboxes in the community (our version of mail delivery). No takers yet - I have (faint) hope that the driver who did it was visiting someone here, and my neighbour wouldn’t mind getting $75 to do the right thing.
(Blinking Duck, I sympathize with your earlier experience, but when you do something, you are responsible for it, not the person you did it to. There are lots of justifications for doing the wrong thing - it’s not too hard to find one.)
A few years ago someone hit our St Bernard. Three days later I found her(I had been cutting a field of hay and she crawled out of the ditch less than 200 feet away from our house). She was covered in maggots and dead. Those last few feet killed her. She must of suffered horribly. If the bastard who had hit her had possessed the balls to do the right thing she’d be alive today. I understand sometimes you cannot avoid hitting an animal in the road but at least tell someone! I have many regrets in my life and a major one is not being more diligent in finding the cksker who hit her(she was almost 200 pounds and there had to be damage to his/her car). I hope there is a special place in hell for people who do things like this!