[HitmanX16]

So I'm driving to my parents for dinner last evening (during rush hour) and it had stopped raining for a few hours. I'm on the expressway and the black accord in front of me slams on their brakes and I was left with no choice but to slam on mine. Tires screeching and I can literally see my car in slow motion closing the gap with the Accord. Nonetheless, I give the Accord a love tap. I'm thinking, oh great... now my insurance is going to go up. As the rear-ender is usually at fault.

As I'm following the driver to pull over on the shoulder he/she is kind of acting erratic as if they were unsure where to stop on the thin shoulder. So the Accord ends up signaling back onto the road and I'm thinking okay maybe they feel unsafe pulling over here in the middle of traffic, understandable. So I continue to follow expecting them to find a safe spot to pull over, but instead they accelerate, changes lanes and takes off.

Meanwhile all this is recorded on my dash cam, question is... what should I do? Leave it alone? Reports to the cops as a hit and run, although I hit and they ran...?

There was very minimal damage to my front bumper, minor scratches, small indentation and my parking sensor is slightly pushed in.

[thebmwjunkiee]

Originally Posted by HitmanX16

So I'm driving to my parents for dinner last evening (during rush hour) and it had stopped raining for a few hours. I'm on the expressway and the black accord in front of me slams on their brakes and I was left with no choice but to slam on mine. Tires screeching and I can literally see my car in slow motion closing the gap with the Accord. Nonetheless, I give the Accord a love tap. I'm thinking, oh great... now my insurance is going to go up. As the rear-ender is usually at fault.

As I'm following the driver to pull over on the shoulder he/she is kind of acting erratic as if they were unsure where to stop on the thin shoulder. So the Accord ends up signaling back onto the road and I'm thinking okay maybe they feel unsafe pulling over here in the middle of traffic, understandable. So I continue to follow expecting them to find a safe spot to pull over, but instead they accelerate, changes lanes and takes off.

Meanwhile all this is recorded on my dash cam, question is... what should I do? Leave it alone? Reports to the cops as a hit and run, although I hit and they ran...?

There was very minimal damage to my front bumper, minor scratches, small indentation and my parking sensor is slightly pushed in.

Not sure if this is the "right" answer, but if it were me in that exact situation I wouldn't pursue it. Assuming the damage is very easy to fix and not terribly costly, I wouldn't report anything to cops or insurance. Not positive about laws regarding the driver fleeing, but I'm sure you could still get blamed for the accident and have your insurance rise.

In a kind of related situation, my buddy ended up doing a night in jail for failing to stop after he was rear ended on the highway. It was at 3am in what he described as a "bad neighborhood", and there had been a rash of cases where people would get rear ended then robbed once they stopped. He absolutely should have called the cops but just kept driving. Moral of the story, the person that rear ended him still ended up paying for the accident, despite my friend running

[snj1013]

I would leave it alone. Like you stated, it's your fault. This way you have the option to report it or not. If you pursue it, your insurance will find out.

[HitmanX16]

That's what I'm leaning towards... Repairs isn't an issue as I have a friend that owns an auto body shop and will fix/repaint everything at cost. I just was confused as why they would run if I'm the 1 at fault. But hey I guess they didn't want to deal with it.

Thanks for your input, definitely helped and made my conscience feel a little more at ease.

Originally Posted by thebmwjunkiee

Not sure if this is the "right" answer, but if it were me in that exact situation I wouldn't pursue it. Assuming the damage is very easy to fix and not terribly costly, I wouldn't report anything to cops or insurance. Not positive about laws regarding the driver fleeing, but I'm sure you could still get blamed for the accident and have your insurance rise.

In a kind of related situation, my buddy ended up doing a night in jail for failing to stop after he was rear ended on the highway. It was at 3am in what he described as a "bad neighborhood", and there had been a rash of cases where people would get rear ended then robbed once they stopped. He absolutely should have called the cops but just kept driving. Moral of the story, the person that rear ended him still ended up paying for the accident, despite my friend running

Originally Posted by snj1013

I would leave it alone. Like you stated, it's your fault. This way you have the option to report it or not. If you pursue it, your insurance will find out.

[550Reasons]

Yea, Id leave it alone, dont involve insurance, id consider it a small blessing that they took off lol

they can easily say injuries, then your insurance has to pay them and you, everything goes up.

[wcr3d]

Personally I would report it. Technically you have committed the hit and run. Aren't your morals screaming at you?

[Trian]

Originally Posted by wcr3d

Personally I would report it. Technically you have committed the hit and run. Aren't your morals screaming at you?

lol

[HitmanX16]

It was... then my good ol' forum members made me feel better.

Originally Posted by wcr3d

Personally I would report it. Technically you have committed the hit and run. Aren't your morals screaming at you?

Yep, agreed.

Originally Posted by 550Reasons

Yea, Id leave it alone, dont involve insurance, id consider it a small blessing that they took off lol

they can easily say injuries, then your insurance has to pay them and you, everything goes up.

[Desmond79]

Don't know if you are required to report it - check with local traffic statutes to allay your conscience.

Informally, if the other guy ran off, he basically gave up his rights unless he thought he was in a bad area and feared something ... lol.

I'd get my car repaired.

[thebmwjunkiee]

Originally Posted by HitmanX16

That's what I'm leaning towards... Repairs isn't an issue as I have a friend that owns an auto body shop and will fix/repaint everything at cost. I just was confused as why they would run if I'm the 1 at fault. But hey I guess they didn't want to deal with it.

Thanks for your input, definitely helped and made my conscience feel a little more at ease.

Many reasons they would run off. Unlicensed driver, drug dealer with stuff in the car, wanted by the police for other crimes, or maybe they were in a rush and just didnt want to deal with a small accident. My grandfather just got in a fender bender, and apparently he and the other guy were both unlicensed (he never renewed his after moving here and is very stubborn involving forms/tests). So they said to hell with it, and my grandfather just paid the guys bill.

Either way, I would generally say you are only hurting yourself by reporting it, and I'm assuming if they were ahead of you and fleeing they didn't record your information so very minor chance anything will happen from it. If they came back and reported you, you have dash cam footage showing you went after them and they took off

[Bbb34]

Where I live, only accidents that exceed $1000 in damage are mandatory to report to police, the rest is expected to be settled between the drivers with no police involvement. I'm not sure what laws are like in your area. Sure that's pretty much any accident these days, but it's somewhat gray area to find out exactly what the damage was.

As others have said, you have it all captured anyway (back that data up and keep for awhile). From what you're saying, seems pretty clear you weren't trying to run away, let them report it if then feel they need to. And if they do, deal with it then.

[phefner]

Maybe best thing to do is covering your 6 by filing the appropriate police accident report. I believe, and you need to verify for your state, that if it's <$500 damage estimated, your not required to file...>$500 and there is a simple accident form to fill out.

Let's us know how this works out.

[lsturbointeg]

i have a feeling the person you hit probably didn't have insurance just guessing tho

[HitmanX16]

Thanks for the input guys/gals.

I'm just going to leave it alone. If there is ever a dispute I'll just show them the dash cam which I backed up already. At this point I don't think its worth the trouble.

I agree with thebmwjunkiee I'll probably be hurting myself more by reporting it.... maybe not the by the law but by the insurance company.

Originally Posted by thebmwjunkiee

Many reasons they would run off. Unlicensed driver, drug dealer with stuff in the car, wanted by the police for other crimes, or maybe they were in a rush and just didnt want to deal with a small accident. My grandfather just got in a fender bender, and apparently he and the other guy were both unlicensed (he never renewed his after moving here and is very stubborn involving forms/tests). So they said to hell with it, and my grandfather just paid the guys bill.

Either way, I would generally say you are only hurting yourself by reporting it, and I'm assuming if they were ahead of you and fleeing they didn't record your information so very minor chance anything will happen from it. If they came back and reported you, you have dash cam footage showing you went after them and they took off

My guess as well... from my cam it looks like it was a female in her rear view.

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

i have a feeling the person you hit probably didn't have insurance just guessing tho

Sidebar... I just caught these little hoodlums tagging on the freeway in broad daylight on my dash cam! Ballsy of them, what should I do? report it or leave it alone?

[fsucoy]

I'm not an attorney. However, for what it's worth, consider the following from my personal experience:

I had a similar situation, except the person actually stopped, inspected their car and determined it was no big deal and very nicely told me "don't worry about it, there was no damage." So, we amicably left our own separate ways.

The next evening, a patrol car showed up at my door with charges that I committed a hit and run, having left the scene of an accident!

Following the myriad of legal hurdles, the lesson learned, which I urge everyone to also be aware of, is that no matter what the circumstances, who's at fault, or whether or not there is any damage, call the police and request that a an official accident report is filed.

Filing an official accident report does not necessarily require charges to be filed for the person at fault, nor does it implicate that insurance gets involved (insurance companies really only become aware of incidents when either you or another party contacts the insurance provider).

But, filing an official accident report clearly and legally documents that you did not leave the scene of an accident, which can potentially land you into a world of trouble. In other words, cover your a$$!!

I have no idea whether it was the gentleman that I hit, which may have had a change of heart, or whether another witness that involved the police.

Tough call and a tricky situation, but given the experience I shared, I would never leave the scene of another accident without official documentation of what transpired.

Best of luck!

[gulfstream69xr7]

If you are worried about future ramifications, you can always drop by the local PD for where the accident occurred. Tell them what happened. DO NOT TELL THEM YOU HAVE A DASH CAM, and tell them you didn't get the plate number. Tell them that the other driver just drove away.

That way they can't pursue the other driver, and if anything comes of it, you've done your job and reported it.

[AntDX316]

If you were to file it, then your car's resell value will instantly drop. Other paper work would have to be done. They will probably have to contact the other vehicle. All this work so it protects the insurance and the next buyer of the vehicle. I think the problem would no longer be, "if I decide to pursue" after you make it known what had happened but the problem would be they will take it over and screw both of you unless you have good rapport w/ the officials and they will toss it but it's like if you are speeding 155mph and decide, "hey I will stop because they might give me a warning" instead you exit and go somewhere else making it look like nothing happened. As long as they have no plate, no case. If there is air support then just give up but I've seen some videos where people had a heli onto them but got away clean lol.

If you want to be 100% legal with great intention, then end up giving up at least a thousand for what had happened. Otherwise do the illegal thing and make it look like nothing happened.

[thebmwjunkiee]

Originally Posted by gulfstream69xr7

If you are worried about future ramifications, you can always drop by the local PD for where the accident occurred. Tell them what happened. DO NOT TELL THEM YOU HAVE A DASH CAM, and tell them you didn't get the plate number. Tell them that the other driver just drove away.

That way they can't pursue the other driver, and if anything comes of it, you've done your job and reported it.

Only issue with this plan is if they find the other car or they come forward, he would have to produce the dash cam footage to prove he was not at fault. Would look a bit fishy considering he didn't offer that up originally and essentially lied while making the report.

But I wouldn't overthink this, I'd let it go. If they havent reported it yet I can't imagine them doing it this far down the line. They had something to hide and wanted nothing to do with the police

[NV GUNS]

Originally Posted by thebmwjunkiee

Only issue with this plan is if they find the other car or they come forward, he would have to produce the dash cam footage to prove he was not at fault. Would look a bit fishy considering he didn't offer that up originally and essentially lied while making the report.

But I wouldn't overthink this, I'd let it go. If they havent reported it yet I can't imagine them doing it this far down the line. They had something to hide and wanted nothing to do with the police

even if he comes forward it was illegal for him to leave the scene of an accident, I had this happend to me and I left it alone after the other party decided to take of. talked to the police and they said I would get a ticket to following to close. and the other party most likely did not have insurance so they took off. best to leave it alone.. I would not stress out over it since the other person will get slammed by coming forward.

[HitmanX16]

Agreed... at this point I'm not going to do anything. I stopped and was willing to give my info, granted it was my fault. But if they didn't care enough to stop and collect my insurance info, then why screw myself.