What recourse does one have in a hit and run?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I haven’t put this in GQ because I’ve got a brief rant to go with it, but it’s not quite pit-worthy. However, please feel free to move it, Mods, at your discretion (and I’m sorry if I’m being a pain in the ass).

Okay, let’s get to it:

Some fucking bitch hit my husband’s car last night. They were parked at a stop light, with one car in front of him and this idiot behind him who, for no apparent reason, suddenly gunned it before the light had turned. She slammed into my husband’s car, causing several deep scratches, but no dents. She hit him hard enough to snap his head back, then forward, and now he’s in a lot of pain. Not enough he can’t function, but it kept him up all last night.

Anyway, the woman hopped out of her car, ran to his window and started yelling in his face, “Hey, there’s not damage! No damage! Do you understand me!?! No damage. Come see, then I’m leaving.” So he gets out to see, and notes that there are deep scratches, no real dents, and that there is no license plate on the front of her car. He asks for her ID and insurance information, and she laughs at him. Fucking laughs at him, and says she doesn’t have an ID, and that she’s driving a rental. He asks how she got a rental without an ID, and she starts screaming, “You want a fucking ID? You just come get it. Come get my motherfucking ID, asshole!” So he runs around her car to the back to check for plates because she’s really flipped out. He memorizes them, and as he’s walking to his car, she jumps in, still screaming abuse at him, and speeds off. My husband had no way of calling anyone because he doesn’t own a cell phone (something I am correcting today), and no one bothered to stop.

He’s filing a police report today. He was too dazed and sore to do it last night. So what recourse does he have, if any?

Personally, I wish I could rip her head off and spit down her throat - what if she had seriously injured him? Would she have screamed at him then driven off? And why the fuck didn’t anyone stop? Maybe they thought everything was under control, but I thought witnesses were supposed to stick around.

2

To clarify - she jumped into her own car and sped off. Sorry about that. I’m still really pissed.

3

If she can’t be tracked down and you don’t have physical damage coverage (Collision) on your car, then you’ll be paying out of pocket to have the car fixed.

As far as injuries, in NY State, all insurance policies have no-fault (PIP or personal injury protection) insurance, which means that no matter who is at fault your own insurance pays for your medical bills. Contrary to popular belief, it DOES NOT mean the no one is at fault in an accident.

The part that really sucks is that if you use your own collision insurance to fix your car, some companies will hold it against you as a claim. This can raise your insurance rates in the future. Good luck to you and I hope your husband will be feeling better soon.

Honey

4

Standard usual legal disclaimer applies. I am not an attorney. I am however a claims adjuster. I know that’s actually much worse.

(There will be no throwing of rotten produce)

First call your agent. Report the claim. If you’ve got collision coverage make a claim. Advise the adjuster of the facts of the accident and ask if you have UM/UIM (Uninsured Motorist/ Under Insured Motorist) coverage. If you do tell the adjuster you wish to make an UM claim. This is coverage you buy to protect your self from idiots like the one you’ve described. Essentially you by coverage for them. You can make a liability claim for your husband’s injuries against your UM coverage. If you don’t want to do that your policy will also have Medical Payments coverage, which will pay for any medical expenses your incur up to the policy limit.

Fill out the police report. MO requires a police report within 5 days when there is bodily injury (your husbands neck pain) and or more than $500 in damages. It sounds like your bumper may need to be replaced which could run from $800 to $1500. In most states it is illegal to leave the scene of the accident. License plate model and make will be enough to track down the owner of the car. If the police aren’t interested in pursuing this see if the DMV will do a license plate search for you. In Many states they will do this for a fee if an accident report has been filed.

As a general rule insurance follows the car not the driver. Thus if it was a rental car the rental agency would carry the coverage not the driver. It sounds to me like the driver is uninsured or is possibly using a car without the owner’s permission. Make your insurance claim and let the adjuster do the leg work, that’s what your premiums are for. If you make a collision and UM claim they will track down the offender and do their best to recover any amounts paid to you.

If you have any questions email me. It’s so rare I get to use my powers for good.

5

To clarify: your damages will fall under your “Collision” coverage, or if you don’t carry that then it would be handled as “Uninsured Motorist Property Damage” if you carry that. If you were cheap when you wrote the policy and omitted these coverages well, you are into your own pocketses. Unless…

This might be corrected if your husband sucessfully remembered the plate number of the car. If he did and the owner of the car can be identified, then that owner, the woman (if she is not the owner) and their respective insurance company will be liable for your body & car damages. Unless…

The owner of the car had reported the car as stolen, under which circumstances it must be assumed your husband made the acquaintance of a real live car thief. If this is the case, the owner of the car is not at fault and you’re back to square one.

Unfortunately, states vary wildly in the application and availability of PIP/MPC (medical expenses in English). NY is likely to be different from Missouri. Check with your insurance agent. If you don’t have an insurance agent, get one (a nice way of advising you, as a friend, that you are with the WRONG insurance company) once this claim is over.

Most companies won’t. No companies will smack you with a surcharge just for asking. Don’t put yourself on the hook for the full cost of the repairs if you don’t KNOW it is in your best interest to do so. If your company IS one that reams you for having a claim that is not your fault, then you are with the wrong company. Make a change.

Just a nitpick on an otherwise excellent post (even if I did get scooped). Rental agencies carry liability coverage to protect themselves against claims that exceed the state’s required minimum limits (usually 25k per person injured & $10k in total property damage). Primary liability rests with the driver of a rental car, other types of cars like newly acquired, non-owned cars (belongs to a friend, but you’re just driving it) yes, the insurance follows the car.

But all this stuff varries from state to state, company to company and too often, situation to situation. but if she was in a rental car and the damages were as light as you say, the rental agency isn’t paying anything unless you can prove negligent entrustment…ha.

6

Thank you all so much for the information! Unfortunately, it appears there’s nothing my husband or the police can do about it. Turns out the woman was driving a rental car and my husband did remember the plates, which he gave to the police department when he went in to talk to them. However, since there was no cop in the area and my husband doesn’t have a cell phone, he had to leave the scene of the accident because no one would stop and let him use a phone, and there weren’t really any available places to pull over. There wasn’t too much damage and he does have collision coverage; however, the cop told him that unless there was far more damage and more injury to my husband, he’s basically up a creek because both he and the woman who hit him left the scene.

My husband is kind of depressed and very disillusioned right now. I know there’s nothing we can do, and I’m sure there’s a reason the laws are set up like that (possibly to avoid clogging the police department with minor offenses - I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s a reason, at least I hope there is), but he’s pretty bummed because this woman’s going to get off with absolutely no consequences to her, and there’s nothing I can do to make it all better except let him vent then try to get his mind off it.

Well, shit. Fucking Mondays… Fucking idiot drivers…

Grumble, grumble, grumble…

7

There will be no hurling of rotten produce. I’ve had a few very positive contacts with claim adjusters. My car was stolen, and the adjuster didn’t make me wait 30 days to cut me a check. She looked at the police report, at the kind of car I’d had. She said, " this thing is out of country with no VIN numbers already, on a ship bound for Europe. I can cut you a check tomorrow morning." It was about 5 days after the theft. She saved me untold monies in rentals, and untold heartache.

I’m so sorry your husband was hurt. He needs to have X rays AND an MRI set taken immediately. Preferably within 24 hours of accident time. Even if you have to pay for them yourself ( which is doubtful ). They will make all the difference, once this becomes a legal matter. It sure sounds like it’s headed that way. Hope he feels better.

Cartooniverse

8

Not done with you yet. The police failing (refusing, if you prefer) to take action merely suggest there is no *criminal * case against the beeyotch. You do have a civil case. In a (ridiculously oversimplified) nutshell, a criminal case involves violation of a point of law (following too close, filure to provide evidence of insurance, creating a nuissance, hit & run, etc.). This is the realm of the po-leese. Civil cases involve liability–failure to act in a reasonable or prudent fashion (your husband had a reasonable expectation for her to not ram the back of his car and she breached that expectation). This is the realm of Tha Insurance Foax!

See, here in the insurance world, we will sometimes use a police report to support a decision pinning liability on a person, ala: “Well, the cop gave her a ticket for following too close, ergo she is at fault” and at other times we ignore it, ala: “Sure she got a ticket for following too close, but the person ahead of her stopped suddenly for no good cause, creating a sudden emergency. He’s gonna pay for her damages.” (this scenario is rare :)) My point is, just because the police aren’t coming to the game that doesn’t mean nobody can play. The fact remains that she hit your car and damaged it and your guy.

FILE THE CLAIM! Insurance companies have an obligation to pay claims for which you have been paying premiums (medical & collision). If they pay these claims and the fault is not yours, they get very upset. Because as you point out, it ain’t fair that someone like that gets to raise hell and get away scot free. Once they’ve taken care of you in accordance with your contract, they will drum up their own Brute Squad (Subrogation Department) to contact the reckless lassie and discuss the matter of repayment with her. If you have indeed confirmed that the car was a rental then this is a glorious day indeed. For the rental company will GLADLY cough up her name & particulars in exchange for … exemption … from further Brute Squad activities. You might have a case for really sticking it to her for being abusive (Personal Injury?) and collecting some punitives as well. She could very well be fucked. Ask LOTS of questions and don’t be afraid of attorneys if you want advise for building a case against this villain.

9

Actually, some of the best companies we have do charge a higher premium for claims paid, regardless who was at fault. And I don’t know what it’s like in other states but, it’s not that simple to just “make a change”. Many of the lowest priced carriers are no longer writing in NY (like I said, I don’t know what the situation is in other states) and changing companies will sometimes result in a much, much higher premium.

Honey

10

Yes! Yes! SUE THE BEEEATCH! This should not go unpunished.

11

Your husband’s whiplash injury should be checked out thoroughly, and I would recommend by a medical doctor and a chiropractor! Sometimes things that doctors miss can be corrected by chiropractic, and most auto insurance covers chiropractic (though they may not like to).

Your husband’s health is the most important thing.

I got a whiplash injury and the medical doctors discharged me as “cured,” and then the problems started. Muscle spasms, numbness and referred pain. Chiropractic, however, set me ‘straight’ again, and eliminated my spasms and pain.

12

I thought there were rules against swearing outside the pit. :confused:

13

I’m sorry about that. It was my fault - I started the thread off swearing.

14

Doesn’t bother me!

I hope everything’s okay with your hubby, OverlyVerbose!