Yui

Just heard this slight *clunk* noise and I was just hoping I'd ran over something... kinda drove slowly in the right lane to see if the car behind me was going to pull over but she just pulled into the left lane and went off... what the hell... anyway, now there's this crack on my bumper where it angles to towards the bottom of the car, right along that edge... I'm hoping I can just fill it with bondo and have it smoothed out and then repainted, any suggestions? I did get the license plate number but I'm hesitant to deal with all the hassle of going to the police station and filing a report and possibly getting my insurance involved...

fdl

Try and get her number and get her to pay for it. I dont know what the laws are like where you are, but leaving the scene of an accident is very severe here. She would have no choice but to pay you. Then again it may be hard to prove.

Champ

it would have been worth the hassle to at least report the plate #...damn hit and run drivers...... their insurance would have paid.

Even though it's just cracked, bondo wont do squat because your bumber is flexible and bondo is not...
sounds like you will need a new bumper to me. Take it to a body shop and see what they can do...be prepared for a hefty bill over 500 though.
I think you will find the police report whorth it once you hear the repair costs. for a new car , i would want the best fix (a new Acura bumper)

Bobby Gz

id remove the bumper, track her down, and beat her with it. then id get on the phone and order the kenstyle kit. just a suggestion.

Yui

Hahahaha Bobby Gz, yeah I was thinking to myself "well if I'm gonna have to replace the bumper, might as well get a kit..." but I dunno that I'd beat her over the head with it.

So, how do I obtain her contact information with just the license plate number... someone out there must know how, this is why we edit the license plate numbers out of our photos =P

majormojo

Yui, go file that police report and give them the license number. They'll take care of finding out who she is. Do it quick, before she files a report saying you backed into her and gave her whiplash! People do that kind of thing these days.

rb1

I'd file a police report, ASAP. Otherwise you aren't likely to get any satisfaction. After all, the person did drive off after hitting you without even stopping to see if there was any damage.

ecsw

What a dump ass. Why would ppl hit others just run away? Do they think all other drivers on the road don't care about their car just like they did? I wish she will hit herself into a tree or some thing. :p Am I being too mean now? :p

dom

I hope Yui is off doing this suggestion right now and not here wasting any more time.

gregor

I'd report it, but in a lot of municipalities the police have so much work, running down a minor hit-and-run is way down on the list
Especially when nobody was hurt.

Brad

Wonderful! You don't need her contact information if you have her plate number. Let the police and department of motor vehicles deal with that. If I'm not mistaken, hit-and-run is a felony in some areas. Also, NOT reporting collisions that cause > a certain amount of damage is against the law too.

Visit at least three body shops of your choice and get estimates. You'll have to notify your insurance carrier, and they might want their own appraisers to provide an estimate too.

You'll need accident details, like date, time, location, description of the other vehicle, possibly the driver.

You're a victim. Don't let felons get away with it!

majormojo

Even if the police do nothing, at least he's got a police report to take to his insurance company. They'll go after the other driver for the damages. It probably varies from one jurisdiction to another, but there shouldn't be any penalty for him going after the other driver. Plus there's a good chance she could lose her insurance for leaving and not reporting it if her ins. co. has to pay out. Not quite as bad for her as hitting a tree, but still unpleasant. Even if there's no injuries and only minor damages, leaving the scene of an accident is a pretty big deal in most places.

Yui

See, I don't want to have to deal with the insurance thing, cause it's a family policy under my dad's name, and he's listed as the primary driver for the car and I'm listed as a secondary. Bleh. No, I'm at work unfortunately, maybe I can set up a reaction and then go get estimates like you guys suggested and then talk to the police department. I have to figure out the whole juris-my-diction crap too, any clue on that?

teombe

You're in Texas. I would strongly advise you to file a hit-and-run police report. You really never know what that woman could do/say, and it could land you in jail if you don't do something first.

Brad

I don't see what that matters. "Secondary driver" still means you can drive the car. You didn't cause the accident.

That said, some insurance companies raise premiums regardless of fault. Others are more lenient unless you have a lot of accidents.

I hate to see felons get away with things!

bheywow

remember, you got hit and your neck and back hurt

report it to the police

Yui

Heh, so I filed the report with the police. They've got it on file and they'll look into it and give me a call if they find anything. I also got a chance to take a look at the damage out in direct sunlight, and it's not as bad as I thought. What I thought was a crack forming in the bumper was just where the paint had been chipped off, but the bumper itself seems structurally intact. So just a paint job should do the job, though it's not really noticeable till you get up close to it. So, just as I thought, it was really a minor bump, and I would totally understand if she didn't realize she had actually hit me. I don't want to see anyone go to jail over chipped paint, but I would like to be compensated for the repairs - not too much to ask, hopefully.

Brad

As long as you're absolutely sure that the damage to your bumper is nothing more than paint deep, then you're lucky. It's not right for the hit-and-run felon to get away with anything.

Also consider that the time and effort you have to consume to get your car fixed. The hit-and-run felon or her insurance company should pay for use of a rental car while yours is in the shop being repaired. Plus, you are due compensation if you lose any pay due to the effort that you consumed to file police reports and insurance claims, to take your car around for estimates, to take time off from work, etc.

You're lucky you haven't any whiplash. The neck muscles are natually weak. Be attentive to any headaches. A bad whiplash will feel like a bad hangover that lasts weeks. You might be well advised to visit your doctor for verification that all is OK.

Yui

Yeah, I do consider myself very lucky... thanks again for all the people who offered advice and encouragement, I'll keep y'all posted on how things turn out...

larchmont

Good advice in general, but the way Yui described it (first post), seems like he doesn't need to worry about any of that in this instance. It seems pretty clearly that it really was just sort of a "tap."

Fooman

Yui...Man, I'm sorry to hear about your hit-and-run accident. I know how you feel about the TSX being less than perfect now. Hopefually you can get it repaired so you won't notice the difference. As for me, I'll be driving in my wrecked TSX until the parts come in...which will be another week or two. Until then, it's quite horrifying to see it in its present condition. I hope your situation can be resolved.

Luckily for me, no one else was involved except for a tree, which my buddies and I are going to chop down. I'll post pics once we do it.

Yui

Hey Fooman, thanks... heh this is actually not the first time something's happened to it... kind of my first car that's really "mine", so a big learning curve for me... but it's weird, after the first thing happens, it's like... I stop worrying about it =P The whole VSA/ABS thing isn't bugging me either, though after having to do a hard stop today and ABS didn't kick in so I'm pretty sure the ABS is not functional... hope it don't rain soon....

jackspat2

Getting this incident reported protects you from her coming after you! Keep that in mind.


And having all repairs paid and other expenses compensated is NOT too much to ask for. It's called responsibility.

Good Job

Pictures?

92GSR

If you file a police report. Your insurance will cover the damage under uninsured motorist which is typically a $250 deducatable.
More than likely the person that hit you doesnt have insurance anyways, like most people in Texas.
Cheers