What are the legal rights and responsibilities of each party if party A, clearly intoxicated and driving a vehicle, strikes, in a reverse motion, party B’s vehicle and neither decide to involve, currently, law enforcement because they are both intoxicated? The incident is clearly party A’s fault which he readily confesses to party B. Party B acquires party A’s license number, vehicle registration and insurance information (which is later found to have expired several months before the incident). Both parties exchange phone numbers and part with no third party involvement.
Four days later, party A calls party B and expresses his desire to provide restitution to party B, but in piecemeal fashion. Party B rejects this proposal and decides to file a police report so that he may involve both parties insurance providers (still not knowing to this point that party A has no insurance) to resolve the matter expeditiously. Thusly, party B files a claim with law enforcement independent of party A. The investigating officer later interviews party A. The investigating law enforcement official states that she cannot properly pursue an investigation because the scene of the incidence no longer exists and it is days later. So the law enforcement official provides each party with an accident report and summarily adjudicates the matter without investigation or criminal allegation; essentially leaving party B and his insurance representitive in a hearsay standoff with party A, sans insurance representation.
What is each parties legal claim and obligation. What legal claim, if any, would party B and his insurance representative have against party A given that any legal procedure regarding the incident was abandoned, mutually, shortly after the event. However clear it may be that party A's vehicle reversed into party B's vehicle causing damage in excess of $1000, is party A legally liable if no legal authority was able to investigate the incident. Party A also claims that party B was in the street occluding party A's drive way as he reversed into the street. With countering testimony, how could this incident be legally adjudicated with bias in favor of one party or the other?
I am aware that a person reversing in a vehicle, who strikes another vehicle, accepts a greater portion of the fault; however, as I’ve aformentioned, there is no third party legal representation, only dueling testimonies, ex post facto, from the parties involved.
Assume this incident occured in the state of Illinois.