OT: Drunk totals our car!! Need advice please!!

About 12:50 am Friday morning, I woke up to the sound of screeching tires and a very loud CRASH. I thought I was dreaming, but when I opened my door, our neighbors said "Somebody just crashed into your car." and this is what I saw:

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I am thankful it wasn't my Mustang! My step-son just bought the Honda Accord we were using from my dad. He turned 16 a month ago and got his driver's license two weeks ago. Poor kid.

There's a very long, complicated story behind this saga, so to make a long story short (if that's possible?) our neighbor ended up confessing to the crime this afternoon, after running (LITERALLY) from the scene of the crime on foot (after ditching his newer Toyota 4runner and returning 15 mins later in another car!). This man owns one of those Taco trucks and is chef/owner at a restaurant in a nearby small town. Another neighbor confronted him when he was dropped off while we were admiring his handy work in front of our house. She said she could smell the alcohol on his breath from several feet away. She came to get us and when we rounded the corner, the suspect starts beatin' a path down the street. Bloody bastard! I called down the street after him "F%$#*&@ coward!" He turns around to look, then runs off again.

About 9 hours later, we begin our search for him. We question neighbors as to his place of employment, last name, etc... Ask a woman at his house where he's at and she gives two different people two different answers. An employee at his restaurant tells us he is going to Mexico for two weeks! We're really pissed off by now! Then a few hours later, we're outside speaking with another neighbor, he comes around the corner to our house with a friend (who evidently talked some sense into him) and says "I'm sorry, blah, blah, blah..." and extends his hand.

Now I need advice. The car that has been totalled is a 1996 V6 Accord. Checked KBB and they value it at a little over $9,000 in good condition. We know the insurance agency adjuster will try and find every little thing wrong with the car in order to screw us out of decent compensation. We talked to the convicted and said we'd like to hear his offer to buy the car from us. He agreed. We see him today at 12 noon. Do you think we should let the insurance goons handle this or do it ourselves? How would the adjusters base compenstation for a totalled car? I don't know much about his insurance. I do know that his 4Runner is brand new with dealer tags still.

Thanks in advance.

Cindy '96 laser red auto GTS

Reply to
C. Olofsson
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Does the car have full coverage on it? If it don't and your in a now fault state take what you can get out of him. Of course when you are getting our offer make sure you standing there with a phone in your hand with 91 all ready dialed.

If you do have insurance on it depending on the car's value to the insurance company (theirs don't match KBB) they may fix it. In the long run you know what you guys have into the car and probably a pretty good idea of what its was worth in your area.

What ever you do do not let the guy drag it out. I have seen similar situations drag out and then the cops/insurance wouldn't do anything with it. If he doesn't have a fat check in his hand today I'd report it.

MadDAWG

Reply to
MadDAWG

Report it to the police, do not hesitate. The guy was drunk, he bashed your car.

BEFORE the adjuster gets there, give the car a VERY detailed cleaning. It matters. If the car is impeccably maintained, they make note of that and it DOES affect the value of the vehicle. If you push, and I mean REALLY push, you will get full value out of your car, I got OVER high book on my 95 GT. You will need to get ads from the local area (within the state even) posting cars like yours for sale, and the prices they are bringing. Get listing from anyplace you can find online for cars that have similar mileage and options.

Any receipts you have for any work you have done to the car in the last 6 months should be copied and presented to the insurance company.

I went through this on three cars when Kristen was out killing cars. You can do it, but it takes some homework.

At the risk of sounding like a liberal, what if it had been a person or your Stang. ... the drunk needs to go to jail - and lose his license - Period.

Kate

Reply to
SVTKate

snip

Please say, for your safety and the safety of all in your neighborhood, your prioity is getting this driver off the road until he takes his driving privileges seriously enough not to endanger you, your family, friends and neighbors.

He ran away and came back afterwards to give himself time to sober up. I've heard drunks discuss this... "if you crash while drinkin', don't stay with the car... get home... report your car stolen. Stayin' with the car will only get ya DUIed.". He knew he needed to get outta there. I know how that'd make me feel... knowing he wasn't staying to own up to his responsibility. Coming back sober, thinking he's only into it for leaving the scene of an accident and he knows *you* know who did it now, doesn't cut it. He's covered his ass as much as he can and weighing his options/outcome.

In my state if you are DUI with a high blood alcohol content, they slap you with a "second offense" type charge, figuring anybody that can be really intoxicated and continue driving is a seasoned pro at it and exceptionally dangerous with tendencies towards repeat offenses. I'd hate to hear, a year in the future, that the same guy that got away with nothing more than a billing statement for smashing into your car is now charged with vehicular homicide. How will you feel if he does kill somebody while being intoxicated behind the wheel and you know you previously let it slide? (of course this assume you are letting the DUI slide. I only assume so because there's no statement from you about you doing otherwise.)

You can replace your car... you can't replace your loved ones.

Then worry about your car.

-= Francis Yarra =- fyarraATjunoDOTcom

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Reply to
Nospam9212

The only way they usually *total* a car is when the cost of repairs exceed the cost of the car. If the car is worth $9,000 I dont see how the rear passenger door and rear quarter panel could result in that much cost to repair. But the pictures are taken at night and you can't really see the total extent of the damage to the car.

Have you called any junk yards to see if they have a replacement rear passenger door for that make and model car? Why not?

Have you taken the car to a shop that has a welder on site who deals with automotive repairs to see how much it would cost to have the rear QP cut loose and replaced? Why not?

I have seen a guy take a car that hit a cow and rolled it over the roof and across the trunk fix the car up in a way that it is impossible to tell what happened.. he even added T tops to it and you cannot see the welds where he replaced the roof.

If the frame isn't bent on the Honda, then it shouldn't cost $9,000 to fix it.

And it doesn't matter if he has full coverage.. full coverage only adds to the policy things like theft, self fixing in the event that the other guy had no insurance at all, etc. Every state requires liability.. which means he pays for a policy that will fix poperty that he damages up to the limit of his policy.

So if he is carrying $10,000 liability, his insurance must pay up to that amount to fix the damages to your car.

Why? Have the car looked at by 3 different body shops, and get written estimates for the repair work. You could even find someone who isn't an actual *body shop* but does restoration work on cars and see if they are willing to look at the car and give you an estimate on the cost of repairs.

At least that way, you know before you make any claims with the insurance company, how much it might be to fix it. If you think you can reach an agreement with the guy who hit the car over the repair costs, then great, if not, then get a copy of the police report and copies (good, during day time) of the pictures and submit them to your insurance company.. if you have full coverage, then your insurance company will go after the other guys insurance to make them pay for the cost of repairs.

If they choose to total out the car, then find out what they are willing to pay you for it.. then ask them what they are willing to take as a buy back option on the car.. if they will take less than it costs to fix the car, then negotiate with them and be willing to accept the difference (between the total out price and their buy back price) get the car and take it to someone who can fix it for you.

Assuming you want to keep the car in the first place.

Vehicle accidents with injuries take priority over a hit and run where only property damage is reported. If there had been injuries involved, then police and medical personnell could have responded to the scene asap.

Suspected.. but you had no proof.. and there were no injuries reported, only property, which isn't a priority when there is an MVA with possible injuries, no matter how far away it might be.

What makes you think he would have or should have read the report? Did you provide a vehicle description and/or tag number of the car that hit yours? In your first post, you stated that he fled on foot leaving the other car behind.. did you tell that to the police when you talked with them on the phone? Did you take pictures of the other car while it was still sitting there? If not, why not? Did you write down the license plate number and the vin number of the hit and run vehicle when the suspect fled on foot? Did you provide that to the police when they arrived? If not, why not?

If you reported a hit and run but were unable to offer the police a description of the suspect or of the vehicle involved, then the only thing the report would have said was that there was a hit and run, what time it occured and possibly any damages to your car, there would have been no suspect or suspect vehicle information on the report, as you hadn't given any. Unless the police issued a look out order for the suspect vehicle, then the other officer wouldn't have even known about it, and would have had no reason to know about it, because police officers cannot spend all their time reading the reports that all the other officers file.

Exactly what did you want him to do? Walk up to the door, bang on it and ask if anyone inside was involved in a hit and run the night before?

If the *suspect* stpped by to *own up to his crime* then what made you think that he was on his way to Mexico? And why did you tell that to the police?

Did you tell the officer that one of the neighbors came by and told you that he did it?

Maybe because they needed help directing traffic? Or maybe they needed help blocking off an area for Life Flight (medical helicopter) to transport the accident victim to the hospital? Maybe the motorcyclist was in 5 pieces on the roadway and they had to block the area off and do clean up of body parts?

What makes you think an accident with injuries should take precedence of a hit and run with only property damage?

Why would it be *interesting*? Because your car got banged up and you dont understand why the police didn't drop what they were doing to come running to take a written report and pictures of your car?

I can understand your frustration in not having the police do what you think they should have done, but as a motorcycle rider, I would be more interested in knowing how the MVA victim is doing and whether or not they will recover from any injuries they might have sustained in the wreck.. your car can be fixed or replaced, no matter what type of misplaced outrage you might feel.. the motorcyclist could have life long problems as a result of their accident and your being upset because the police refused to leave that scene for a dent in your car is more *outrageous*

Jake

Reply to
Jake Nichols

Oh we did already report it, Kate. The police have been notified many times and we have talked to them a couple times since that night.

I am concerned he will do it again and understand the results could possibly be fatal. The police told us they suspect his license is already suspended. The only thing to stop him from doing this again is to go to jail for a long time, and since nothing was done by the police the night of the accident, there is no proof of DUI. The police told us they are going to charge him with DUI, however, just based on witness statements. I don't understand that, but whatever works. He is still on the loose. Cops can't manage to find him.

We are not harboring this guy just to get money out of him. He has owned up to the crime since and promised to "make it right."

If it had been my Mustang, he'd be dead right now. :-)

The car was very clean when this happened. We don't have all receipts for the maintenence, though.

Cindy '96 laser red auto GTS

Reply to
C. Olofsson

We have been told by a neighbor (not sure if it's true) that hit and run is more punishable than DUI.

I am not letting it slide. We reported it! We gave our statements. We made no promises to the suspect and he only asked that we keep the insurance companies out it. We still did report it to our company. He hasn't given us his insurance information, though. If he doesn't pay us restitution, the cops will find him either way and his insurance will...if he has any.

I only assume so because there's no statement from you

I understand.

Yeah, I understand this, too. We told the cops everything we know! We didn't see this accident. We only saw the guy a block away turn his head (dark hair is all I could see under the street lights) so all we have is our neighbors word that it was him running that night. He approached us the day after the accident when we were outside speaking with our neighbor, and said "I'm so sorry." I said "Are you Rudy?" and he said "Yes [extended his hand], I'm very sorry..." I asked him if he was drunk, he of course denied it and said he it was late and he was sleepy, etc...

Well, we are worried already about our car, sorry. We are not wealthy enough to just say "Oh, well, we need to let this go so we can get him in jail asap!" There is nothing we can do to jail him any quicker. The cops are after him, and they will get him. If they had reacted earlier and gone to his house when we told them we thought he was home, this would have been resolved by now.

Cindy '96 laser red auto GTS

Reply to
C. Olofsson

Exactly! He returned home in another car about (neighbor said) 20 mins after the accident smelling of alcohol so strongly that our neighbor could smell it from several feet away. If the cops had responded immediately, another drunk driver would be behind bars!

Cindy '96 laser red auto GTS

Reply to
C. Olofsson

Personally, I would make an appointment with the Prosecutor's Office. You may have enough evidence to bust him for Hit and Run which is a rather Serious charge in of itself IN ADDITION to his DUI !

He needs to be STOPPED before he KILLS anyone!

- ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert 64 Falcon HT Hot Rod Project

Check out the Ford Engine Heaven!

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Reply to
Katmandu

Where the hell do you live ?? You're in the USA aren't you ?? Last time I checked we are Protected under the 1st Amendment of the Constitution to FREE SPEECH!

I would submit an Editorial to SEVERAL Newspapers in addition to contacting other News agencies.

- ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert 64 Falcon HT Hot Rod Project

Check out the Ford Engine Heaven!

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Reply to
Katmandu

Easy for you to say, isn't it?

Call the police to get this asshole off the road.

Um, DUH, we did that!!!!!

Do you think I'm stupid? Can you read? I cleary stated in my reply to MadDAWG that we called the police that night but they did not respond for almost four hours!!!!!

What if this guy had plowed into

Get off your pedestol, dude! I have a three year old, I know what could have happened. There is nothing we HAVEN'T done to nail him. The cops just responded too late to do anything about this. What else should we do/have done???

What value will you assign to a human life?

Ohspareme! Please don't preach to me about human life

Again, easy for you to say.

and stand-up, be a man, do

Try reading (and comprehending) before throwing your unfounded accusations around!

Don't let this issue get swept under the rug. It is

What am I thinking of? What haven't I done? We tried to tell the cops what we knew. They didn't respond! Instead they come here four hours LATE and [pardon the pun] cop an attitude with us when we asked what happened with the motorcycle accident!

You have to understand we were in shock after this happened. Still half asleep. We couldn't run after this guy, we weren't even sure it was him! It was dark! Obviously his rapid departure was proof, but...you just don't think about this stuff 'til after it happens, at least we didn't. I called him a coward when he ran, but to be honest, I didn't know that for sure. If he'd been innocent, or the wrong person, I know what I would have done. He only ran faster.

If I'd wanted a "respect for human life" lecture I would have called MADD and told them this story. I posted this for "what if" advice on our property. I'm tired of wannabe newsgroup martyrs who think they're better than everybody else based on their interpretation of someone's personal experience.

Cindy '96 laser red auto GTS

Reply to
C. Olofsson

Man, this must be an unusual newspaper - the one here in Fort Collins looks for reasons to make the police look bad.

yeah, if there is a couple of local TV stations with news programs, they usually look for stories like this to place at the end of their broadcast.

>
Reply to
Ralph Snart

Just because she has a right to say it, doesn't mean they will priint it.

Jake

Reply to
Jake Nichols

It's not just the door and quarter panel. Both rear wheels are crooked. He hit the car with such force he probably bent the frame of the car we were told.

But the pictures are taken at night and you can't

They daytime shots are on my 35mm camera. The night shots were from a digital.

BECAUSE there is more to the damage than we thought.

Your attitude sucks.

Well good for him.

Precisely.

As I understand it, there levels of coverage. If he has insrance, sure they'll cover it. But if he doesn't we get to pay our $1000 deductible, which we don't have at the moment.

Every state requires

Yeah, "limit of his policy."

Well, as he hasn't given us that information, and probably won't.

We will do that when we can do it.

They haven't taken pictures during the day time. We did.

submit them to your

I know how it works.

Thanks for your advice, but it's pretty useless if the cops don't even know his last name and can't find him.

If the frame is bent, no, I don't want to keep the car, no matter how "fixed" it is. [snip]> >said they could not send anybody for awhile 'cause they were about

25 miles

This I know, too.

If there had been injuries involved,

Yes, but there were no cops to be found in at least FIVE different cities to respond to one hit and run/suspected DUI accident...???? That is simply ridiculous.

What if there had been a home burglary, human injury, rape...anything? If all the police are attending ONE accident, then what would have happened? What if this guy was still driving around, drunk?

[snip]> >there. CHP comes, stops at our place, we tell him what happens, he asked us

Oh, I don't know...because it's their JOB?

Did

Oh sure. We were asleep! Two ladies across from our house saw this happen and told us, cops didn't ask them any questions...and still haven't. Apparently he doesn't have tags, the car is brand new.

In your first post, you stated that he fled on foot leaving

at another location!

.. did you tell that to the police when you talked

Of course!

Did you take pictures of the other car while

Of course!

Did you write down the

He drove it away, and returned in another vehicle. We don't know where it is, nor do we know where he is.

Oh brother.

Reply to
C. Olofsson

The next time you buy a house, make sure it's close to a Krispy Kreme Donut Shop....

Levity aside, if it was the weekend when this happened, the police were probably very busy. A couple of posteres on this NG are police officers, and they can tell you the unGodly amount of crazy shit that happens on weekends: domestic disputes, DUI's, drug sales, auto accidents, typical crime like assaults, robberies, etc.

Reply to
Ralph Snart

Doesn't hurt to try. Right ?? I suggest submitting the Editorial to SEVERAL different papers including that Bathist Party run paper.

ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert 64 Falcon HT Hot Rod Project

Check out the Ford Engine Heaven!

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Reply to
Katmandu

At this point, there is no way of proving that he was drunk.. or even had any trace of alcohol in his system at all.

At the most, he wold be cited for hit and run and leaving the scene of an accident.

Neither one would be a serious charge since there were no injuries involved. Points on his license, higher insurance, maybe MAYBE a suspended license (but not likely if this is his first offence) and possibly a fine, depending on the judge, if it is ever brought before a judge.

Jake

Reply to
Jake Nichols

I don't know why this post was sent, I wasn't even finished.

All fine and dandy, but as you see, we did EVERYTHING possible to get this guy off the street. Should we do the rest of the officers job, as well?

We gave the officers names and locations of witnesses, yet the officers have failed to question them. They came our house last night and the night before while we were asleep to ask us questions. We didn't answer the door the other night 'cause we didn't hear the door bell. Our son heard the knock last night. That is the first contact the police have made with us since the night of the accident. The rest of the time, we have attempted to get their attention in this matter, and when they finally do come around to look for the guy, they don't bother to knock on his door (even though he was home).

Because WE didn't see it. The neighbors were willing to give their statements, but the officers didn't bother to contact them.

Unless the police issued a look out order for

But they did! That's the point. They are treating this case like it's child's play, and to them, maybe it is. However, last night, the officer said "We have to follow this to the end." They have the suspect's place of employment, his address and probable cause, yet, they make lackluster attempts at finding him.

and would have had no reason to know about it, because

The officer that we called during the DAYtime, said he is the officer we are to deal with during the day. And he's not responsible for learning the facts of this case? Then who is? We did our part. They are not doing theirs. We tracked this guy down, and it was OUR efforts that made him come forward and offer to settle our claims with him. He insists he didn't even know the cops were looking for him 24 hours after the accident! We found out more information than the police did in those 24 hours.

YES, that's what we expected of him. Isn't that HIS JOB? There was a car...in front of his house. The officer didn't even TRY. Yesterday they finally summoned up the courage or brains to knock, but of course, the suspect wasn't home.

We went to his restaurant five miles away, and the waitress told us he said he was leaving for Mexico for two weeks, that's why. Why wouldn't I tell that to the police?!

Stupid question.

It shouldn't and I don't think that.

You just don't get it, do you? This guy was drunk! Aren't the police supposed to give a shit about that? He drove away from here after the accident, according to our neighbor, very wrecklessly and returned 20 mins later...long enough for the cops to respond, see him return and arrest him! He crashed into our car with such force that it bent the axle and frame! Ah, but you're right, they shouldn't give a rat's ass about getting somebody like that off the street.

Don't ride a motorcylce if it's that dangerous then. I hope the victim is okay, too, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over worrying about replacing my totalled car either!

your car can be fixed or replaced, no matter what type of

How many police officers does it take to screw in a light bulb, for christs sake? Rio Dell (motorcyle accident site) has its own sheriff. SHOULDN'T there be enough officers to go around? Why should our town go without a patrolman for four hours? This wasn't really even on a weekend. It was 12:50 am Friday. And we weren't the only ones that didn't understand why the cops didn't feel a duty to respond to a suspected DUI case!

for a dent in your car

What a false sense of pride you possess, Jake. You really think you value human life more than I do just because I try to get in return what's rightfully mine? Think again, pal.

Cindy '96 laser red auto GTS

Reply to
C. Olofsson

Hi...

Unfortunately, it leaves his record clear of a prior offense of DUI. I know that's outta your control but it sucks that you have to live with a known drunk driver in your neighborhood. Maybe just the experience will smarten him up.

I do understand that drunks run from the scene of an accident to keep from getting DUIed... at least they figure DUI is the worst of the two scenarios. Dunno, either way, they are cowards to own up to their own poor behavior.

Good.

Coward and a liar.

I didn't mean to imply that your car was of NO concern. I just mean that the more important thing is to make your neighborhood safe from this person. He obviously has no respect for your safety. If it were mid-day and somebody was killed in your car, you'd have a most different agenda.

Sure.

Quick story...

I once had a teenager doing burnouts up and down the street (yep... a fellow Mustang driver unfortunately). Now I've done that myself once or twice :) but he kept it up for over two hours. He passed the school bus with our kids getting off without stopping for the flashing lights, which is required by law. I had had enough. I told my wife to call the police and I could tell they were not going to respond by what she was saying back (.."of course you won't catch him if you don't come HERE"!!). I yelled loud enough for the officer to hear... "Hang up.. if he won't dispatch anybody, I'll go out with a baseball bat and handle it myself". A cruiser showed up in 10 minutes. They gave him nothing more than a stiff lecture... but it never happened again. Problem solved.

Also... I once got local police to cooperate by calling the state police on them !! Very diplomatically, of course. :)

-= Francis Yarra =- fyarraATjunoDOTcom

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Reply to
Nospam9212

Cindy... sorry to be focusing on the drunk rather than the damaged car but I see the drunk a way bigger problem. Please understand, I am seeking to help you obtain a safe environment for you and your neighborhood.

The officer should have most definitely knocked on the door and asked the suspect of his where-abouts, where his car was , etc.. etc.. at the time of the report.

Had he done so, just MAYBE they could have gotten a DUI. You'd at least have a log report of the officer finding the suspect under the influence within a short time of the accident. The officer dropped the ball on this one.. big time. I'm unsure what you can do about that and even if you did, how it'd help, at this point.

Now... at this point of watching the officer drive by without stopping should have been the time you realized they weren't gonna be of much value. Go over their heads and call state police. I've done it... it works (at least here in my hometown..but I guess maybe our state police take policing serioulsy? Dunno?!) Even if I didn't get results, I have a report filed in two police jurisdictions... one about the drunk, one about the lack of effort by local police.

You asked what more could you have done...

Not to sound lecturing and I realize hind-sight is 20/20, telling what you should/could have done is somewhat moot (maybe this will help you in the future or help somebody else)... you dropped the ball by letting the officer driver away. This allowed the drunk just what he sought... time to sober up. That

*was* your mistake... live and learn. btw... I understand how hard it is to think of everything clearly under the circumstances and am not placing blame on you.

(Of course, I have no understanding or experience with your local police and how they act, how cooperative they are, how lazy or inept they maybe or if they even care.. I only give advice based on my experiences with my local police. Your results may vary)

Hope it all works out for the best for you.

-= Francis Yarra =- fyarraATjunoDOTcom

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Reply to
Nospam9212

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