I got in an accident today. Please give me advice.

I just bumped into the car in front of me. We were both in the turning lane and she was making a right on red. I thought she was going to go, so I was looking to the left instead of to the right (watching her). I accidentally rolled into her and from what I could tell, left a small dent in her back bumper. My left blinker plastic cover thingy was completely shattered and gone and I had a dent on my left side. There was nowhere to stop and neither of us did. I wound up in front of her down the street in a left turning lane. I made the left just as the light changed and she was stopped.

I feel like I did an awful thing by not stopping somehow and I told this to a friend and they said that if she got my license plate number I could be arrested. I’m not sure what to do. Should I call the police and file a report even though I don’t know who it was that I hit? What should I do?

I would absoultely file a report. A hit and run looks real bad on your record, and will end up costing a lot of money, if not jail time. If you did get in front of her then there is a very good chance she did take your number. You can tell the cops you were trying to lead her to a good place to stop and she didn’t follow. Its a stupid lie, but they may buy it if you report it soon enough after the accident.

I agree with wolfman- who’s to say you weren’t trying to get her attention to pull over and exchange info? A good faith effort on your part increases the credibility of your story. The one thing I wouldn’t do is file a claim with your insurance company to fix your “plastic thingy” :wink: and the dent in your car. INsurance companies suck, and will use any excuse to raise your premiums and then drop you- even if your following accidents (God forbid) are not your fault. Good luck!

I’m not going to worry about it I guess. My dad says I would’ve heard by now if she called it in. I’m definately not going to call my insurance agency. It’s not so bad that I can’t fix it myself. Thanks.

Oh, not worrying about it could cost you. My bf had a hit and run (long story I won’t get into right now) and a week later the police showed up at his house and arrested him for it. It is always better to report these things and be on the safe side. I would hate for you to be replying to us from jail.

call the police and tell them what happened and say that neither one of you stopped. They’ll probably tell you not to worry about it unless she calls, and if she does then you reported it too so you won’t get arrested, just a ticket. CYA.

Don’t listen do these do-gooders. Don’t report it. What you describe sounds like a very minor fender bender. If any cops show up, act very distraught and tell them you didn’t know what to do. I think as long as you put on a good sob story you should be ok, given this is such a minor accident.

Let me tell you something that happened to, uh, a friend of a friend. For the sake of convenience let me speak as if I were he.

I clipped someone’s SUV with my pickup in a crowded parking lot at lunch time, and also shattered my turn signal and light. (Probably did about as much damage as you did to this woman.) I drove off. Someone witnessed it, and reported it to the cops. The cops called my home that afternoon, and told the person who answered the phone (my dad) that they would come by later to investigate. They never did.

Now, this happened in a decent sized city. The cops have better things to do than dick around with $250 fender benders. If you were in a really small town (which I gather you weren’t), you might want to worry a little. But I wouldn’t worry about it and I wouldn’t report it.

Please do follow neuroman’s advice.

I mean, you don’t need integrity, and the fact that the car you hit with your own negligence (unintentional or not) will need repairs that they will have to make, or the value of their vehicle will go down.

Who needs honesty? Owning up to what you’ve done and being responsible? Pishaw!

Sorry, but put yourself in the position of the person who WAS HIT and then make your decision…

Or you can HOPE that neuroman is right. Because them coming to YOU will hurt you more than you coming to them.

It’s a chance some people would take. Others would not…


Yer pal,
Satan

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I slept with a REPUBLICAN moderator!*

Integrity? Honesty? What are these qualities of which you speak? The most important word here is rationalization.

::thinking for a long time::

Hmm, I think I need to go read some GD threads . . .

Insurance fraud.

Sure, if the other guy’s honest, you might not be in much trouble, but what if he got your license and decided you might be a good source of supplemental income? You don’t know what other damage might have been done to his car, and even now the other person may be consulting a shyster lawyer and claiming whiplash, athlete’s foot, transmission damage, and G-d knows what else, as a result of your little shunt.

Call the authorities, confess only the least amount of responsibility necessary to stay out of jail, and keep the phone number of a good attorney handy, just in case.

~~Baloo

Report it to the cops. Then it’s not a hit and run, just one of those crazy things.

The cops are not going to seek out the person you hit. They will have to wait for that person to contact them. If that person never does, you walk. The cops won’t do anything to you after you report, because then it’s a civil matter (as long as there’s no hit-and-run report already filed).

“My left blinker plastic cover thingy”

visit your manf’s auto store & get a new one of these & put it on soon. They are expensive but if you do it yourself you can save some bucks. You need to do it soon as it’ll start to rust inside if you don’t.

Why dont you call the cops & explain the situation? The person might not even know there is a spot on their bumper because it might have been there before.

At any rate, never say it was your fault or imply it was, even if it was. But don’t lie either & say it wasn’t.

Count me as another vote for honesty and CYA.

Even if you don’t have the license plate number of the other car, try to describe it as accurately as possible so the police can verify the vehicle if she does file a report. I wouldn’t suggest lying at all, but reiterate the fact that (1) you got to close and bumped her (I wouldn’t use the words hit or rolled–they have more serious connotations IMHO) and (2) there was no place for you two to stop at the time and (3) she left the scene as well so you didn’t have any other option than to report it to them at your earliest convenience.

I would surmise (but can’t promise–I ain’t got no lawyer diploma thingy on my wall) that without a victim they won’t even cite you since there’s no proof but your own admission of the event. Besides, if she doesn’t report it now and later tries or tries to sue you or file a claim with your insurance, it will likely make your case stronger that you contacted them and she didn’t.

You might also consider calling your local Legal Aid first if you want to know what best to do…they may be able to make a quick recommendation without invoking an actual fee.

Just remember, the longer you wait, the worse it will look and the better your chance that she will report you.
JMHO. Besides, isn’t it always better to do the right thing than to do the wrong one and have it on your conscience?

What goes around comes around - report it.

It’s probably best to report it, if the person has your lisense plate # and has reported you, or will report you–that’s a felony hit and run charge on your record. A felony is not something you want to have. Even though it seems minor, not reporting this could result in you going to jail for up to a year and having a felony crime charge.

Peta’s got a point, file a report, but use words that are of less impact to you such as bumped and not hit; it’s not lying, but make sure you’re completely truthful and not appearing to deceive the police or the insurance company.

If she hasn’t called you yet and you hear from the police that no one made any reports about the incident, then chances are, you’re in a good position (but not 100%) since the victim didn’t seem to make an effort (as the matter of fact, in BC, Canada, there was a case about a pedestrian who got hit by a car and sped away, but the victim did not made an effort in identifying or reporting about the hit-and-run in a reasonable manner/time, thus the court ruled in favour of the insurance company of not having the pay the victim that she demanded (apparently a substantial amount; or actually, come to think of it, the victim didn’t receive any money at all).

Cheers,
jovius