Need advice on hit and run
03-20-11, 12:17 PM
#1
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Need advice on hit and run
So i'm coming back from work on Thursday evening at around 6pm. I'm traveling on I90 heading west bound. I was in the middle lane doing about 65mph when traffic clears in the right lane and i decide to make a break for it to get around the slower traffic. When I do so I immediately realize a black volkwagen passat follows my exact move as he was in the left lane stuck behind slower traffic. I get behind a slow traffic patch again in the right lane and the passat is right on my behind, I mean iches away to the point where it's unsafe. I immediately left off the throttle and he gets even worse. When the vehicle infront of me exits the freeway I get on it putting about a city block between us. He gets on me again when I get behind another vehicle. Keep in mind im still in the right lane and he is on my behind just as bad as he was before. I have a vehicle to the left of me and no one in front of me but i'm doing about 65. As soon as I pass the vehicle to the left of me he immediately squeezes around and gets to my left side sits their for a second or two and jerks his car violently into mine. I immediately jerk my wheel to avoid him to the point that I almost spun out my car. He speeds away and in order to get away he almost runs another vehicle off the road as he tried to go through a gap that wan't big enough to fit in when he changed lanes to divert me. My heart is immediately racing as I couldn't believe someone would maliciously try to ram their car into mine and I was shocked that we didn't actually collide because we were so close. So I decided to try to catch up to him to grab his plate number but to my suprise he moved into the left lane not far up and was going with the flow of traffic which is what he was doing prior to me making my initial move to get around slower traffic. I get behind him and call 911 to connect with state police and I give them the plate number to the vehicle. I also get along side of him to get a good look at him while the whole time he is trying not to make eye contact with me and trying to keep cool. State police said they'll dispatch the nearest trooper. I arrived home about 20 minutes later and inspect my car for any potential damage. I immediately looked to the left side of the car, the drivers door and passenger door and saw no damage. I then looked up front and immediately saw damage to my drivers side fender and front bumper, right where they meet. The area is slightly pushed in by about an 1/8 inch or so but has several deep sratches into the bare metal and chipped paint. The area is not very big, maybe about 5 inches in diameter. I called state police again and tell them that the vehicle actually caused damage to mine. They tell me to drive to the nearest toll plaza and ask for a state trooper to file a police report. The office was very friendly and took all my info, looked at the damage and filed a police report. He asked if I would be willing to file a wreckless driving charge against this person and I told him yes as his intent was malicious in nature. I asked what the next steps were and he said that I had to fill out a motor vehicle incident report and return within 10 days. From their they would send a letter to the vehicle owner requesting that he meet with the officer in person within 30 days. He said that if the owner doesn;t respond that a charge would go against his record. He gave me a police report which included the owners name, address and make of vehicle. If never filed a collision claim before, only comprehensive. I'm hesistant to file a claim as in the end i'm going to be the one likely to pay for it as my premium will go up. My deductible is small only $250. I would estimate the damage at $1000 or less as it would cost about $650 to repaint both areas and then the fender would need to be pulled out due to the dents and damage. Since this was a hit and run there are no charges against this individual as of yet so I don't know if my insurance company could go after his and I don't even know if they would due to the minimal cost of the damage. I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on what I should do. If my premium does go up i'm wondering how much, i it's $5-10 a month it may not be too bad but if it's more it'll likely not be worth it.
03-20-11, 12:32 PM
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Theres no set number on how it will impact your premium. It might not increase your rates at all. Your deductible is very low so its probably worth using the insurance to get everything fixed up.
03-20-11, 12:44 PM
#4
If you are hit by someone else, can prove it wasn't your fault, and you have the other drivers information, your premium should NOT go up.
Call you insurance company, explain what happened, they will ask you to give them the police report #, and the drivers information. Hand it off to them and they will take care of the rest (tracking down the other driver and making him or his insurance pay). Remember your insurance company has high powered lawyers that they will use if they have to to collect the damages
Usually, you wont even have to pay the deductible in this case.
My gf was rear ended by a driver who provided false information. She had to pay the $500 deductible for repairs because insurance said the information didn't ID the driver correctly. Had she gotten his real info, the deductible would have been waived. Anyways, even after paying the $500 deductible, her insurance didn't go up because she was not-at-fault.
So worst case for you is you pay your $250 deductible really.
Call you insurance company, explain what happened, they will ask you to give them the police report #, and the drivers information. Hand it off to them and they will take care of the rest (tracking down the other driver and making him or his insurance pay). Remember your insurance company has high powered lawyers that they will use if they have to to collect the damages
Usually, you wont even have to pay the deductible in this case. My gf was rear ended by a driver who provided false information. She had to pay the $500 deductible for repairs because insurance said the information didn't ID the driver correctly. Had she gotten his real info, the deductible would have been waived. Anyways, even after paying the $500 deductible, her insurance didn't go up because she was not-at-fault.
So worst case for you is you pay your $250 deductible really.
03-20-11, 01:00 PM
#5
My advice. Use the return/enter key..like this
ok now let me post this so I can read it..
So i'm coming back from work on Thursday evening at around 6pm. I'm traveling on I90 heading west bound. I was in the middle lane doing about 65mph when traffic clears in the right lane and i decide to make a break for it to get around the slower traffic.
When I do so I immediately realize a black volkwagen passat follows my exact move as he was in the left lane stuck behind slower traffic. I get behind a slow traffic patch again in the right lane and the passat is right on my behind, I mean iches away to the point where it's unsafe. I immediately left off the throttle and he gets even worse. When the vehicle infront of me exits the freeway I get on it putting about a city block between us.
He gets on me again when I get behind another vehicle. Keep in mind im still in the right lane and he is on my behind just as bad as he was before. I have a vehicle to the left of me and no one in front of me but i'm doing about 65. As soon as I pass the vehicle to the left of me he immediately squeezes around and gets to my left side sits their for a second or two and jerks his car violently into mine. I immediately jerk my wheel to avoid him to the point that I almost spun out my car.
He speeds away and in order to get away he almost runs another vehicle off the road as he tried to go through a gap that wan't big enough to fit in when he changed lanes to divert me. My heart is immediately racing as I couldn't believe someone would maliciously try to ram their car into mine and I was shocked that we didn't actually collide because we were so close. So I decided to try to catch up to him to grab his plate number but to my suprise he moved into the left lane not far up and was going with the flow of traffic which is what he was doing prior to me making my initial move to get around slower traffic.
I get behind him and call 911 to connect with state police and I give them the plate number to the vehicle. I also get along side of him to get a good look at him while the whole time he is trying not to make eye contact with me and trying to keep cool. State police said they'll dispatch the nearest trooper. I arrived home about 20 minutes later and inspect my car for any potential damage. I immediately looked to the left side of the car, the drivers door and passenger door and saw no damage. I then looked up front and immediately saw damage to my drivers side fender and front bumper, right where they meet. The area is slightly pushed in by about an 1/8 inch or so but has several deep sratches into the bare metal and chipped paint.
The area is not very big, maybe about 5 inches in diameter. I called state police again and tell them that the vehicle actually caused damage to mine. They tell me to drive to the nearest toll plaza and ask for a state trooper to file a police report. The office was very friendly and took all my info, looked at the damage and filed a police report. He asked if I would be willing to file a wreckless driving charge against this person and I told him yes as his intent was malicious in nature.
I asked what the next steps were and he said that I had to fill out a motor vehicle incident report and return within 10 days. From their they would send a letter to the vehicle owner requesting that he meet with the officer in person within 30 days. He said that if the owner doesn;t respond that a charge would go against his record. He gave me a police report which included the owners name, address and make of vehicle.
If never filed a collision claim before, only comprehensive. I'm hesistant to file a claim as in the end i'm going to be the one likely to pay for it as my premium will go up. My deductible is small only $250. I would estimate the damage at $1000 or less as it would cost about $650 to repaint both areas and then the fender would need to be pulled out due to the dents and damage.
Since this was a hit and run there are no charges against this individual as of yet so I don't know if my insurance company could go after his and I don't even know if they would due to the minimal cost of the damage. I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on what I should do. If my premium does go up i'm wondering how much, i it's $5-10 a month it may not be too bad but if it's more it'll likely not be worth it.
When I do so I immediately realize a black volkwagen passat follows my exact move as he was in the left lane stuck behind slower traffic. I get behind a slow traffic patch again in the right lane and the passat is right on my behind, I mean iches away to the point where it's unsafe. I immediately left off the throttle and he gets even worse. When the vehicle infront of me exits the freeway I get on it putting about a city block between us.
He gets on me again when I get behind another vehicle. Keep in mind im still in the right lane and he is on my behind just as bad as he was before. I have a vehicle to the left of me and no one in front of me but i'm doing about 65. As soon as I pass the vehicle to the left of me he immediately squeezes around and gets to my left side sits their for a second or two and jerks his car violently into mine. I immediately jerk my wheel to avoid him to the point that I almost spun out my car.
He speeds away and in order to get away he almost runs another vehicle off the road as he tried to go through a gap that wan't big enough to fit in when he changed lanes to divert me. My heart is immediately racing as I couldn't believe someone would maliciously try to ram their car into mine and I was shocked that we didn't actually collide because we were so close. So I decided to try to catch up to him to grab his plate number but to my suprise he moved into the left lane not far up and was going with the flow of traffic which is what he was doing prior to me making my initial move to get around slower traffic.
I get behind him and call 911 to connect with state police and I give them the plate number to the vehicle. I also get along side of him to get a good look at him while the whole time he is trying not to make eye contact with me and trying to keep cool. State police said they'll dispatch the nearest trooper. I arrived home about 20 minutes later and inspect my car for any potential damage. I immediately looked to the left side of the car, the drivers door and passenger door and saw no damage. I then looked up front and immediately saw damage to my drivers side fender and front bumper, right where they meet. The area is slightly pushed in by about an 1/8 inch or so but has several deep sratches into the bare metal and chipped paint.
The area is not very big, maybe about 5 inches in diameter. I called state police again and tell them that the vehicle actually caused damage to mine. They tell me to drive to the nearest toll plaza and ask for a state trooper to file a police report. The office was very friendly and took all my info, looked at the damage and filed a police report. He asked if I would be willing to file a wreckless driving charge against this person and I told him yes as his intent was malicious in nature.
I asked what the next steps were and he said that I had to fill out a motor vehicle incident report and return within 10 days. From their they would send a letter to the vehicle owner requesting that he meet with the officer in person within 30 days. He said that if the owner doesn;t respond that a charge would go against his record. He gave me a police report which included the owners name, address and make of vehicle.
If never filed a collision claim before, only comprehensive. I'm hesistant to file a claim as in the end i'm going to be the one likely to pay for it as my premium will go up. My deductible is small only $250. I would estimate the damage at $1000 or less as it would cost about $650 to repaint both areas and then the fender would need to be pulled out due to the dents and damage.
Since this was a hit and run there are no charges against this individual as of yet so I don't know if my insurance company could go after his and I don't even know if they would due to the minimal cost of the damage. I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on what I should do. If my premium does go up i'm wondering how much, i it's $5-10 a month it may not be too bad but if it's more it'll likely not be worth it.
03-20-11, 02:01 PM
#10
I think you should push for criminal hit and run charges against the guy. I don't care if he is a struggling father of four, people need to know they can't get away with hit and run. Send the bastard to jail.
03-20-11, 05:29 PM
#12
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Well the thing is that I don't think he knew he hit me and neither did I until I got home. There was no sound of us colliding and by the damage it was minimal considering the speed we were going since we were on the freeway. It could have ended much worse, especially if I didn't swerve as he went more than 50% into my lane. I think he was trying to scare me by jerking his vehicle into mine but he went way overboard.
03-20-11, 08:02 PM
#13
Well the thing is that I don't think he knew he hit me and neither did I until I got home. There was no sound of us colliding and by the damage it was minimal considering the speed we were going since we were on the freeway. It could have ended much worse, especially if I didn't swerve as he went more than 50% into my lane. I think he was trying to scare me by jerking his vehicle into mine but he went way overboard.