Accusation of Hit and Run

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you told your insurance company that the police are making such a request of you? If not, I think I would do that. If you have, what did they say?

They won't care at all. Nothing to do with them.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I had something very similar happen years ago while driving in DC. The major difference was that I pulled over (may or may not have been a good move as this guy was truly enraged) and called the police to deal with it then and there. He was claiming major damage to his car (despite that fact that our cars never touched...I even doubted myself given his level of rage but ultimately, I was 100% certain would have felt the impact of that kind of damage). He was also claiming damage to his hubcap from hitting the curb from stopping suddenly. I did some googling after the incident and discovered that his place of address had at least one other person living there who had been convicted of fraud which seemed coincidental given the scenario. I talked with my insurance gave them my side of the story plus this information and not only did they deny his claim, lo and behold, he conceded that maybe he was mistaken and it was another car that had cut him off/hit him and not mine...the whole thing was truly bizarre. I'm no lawyer but I'd probably go down to the police station and talk with them even if it's an inconvenience. Try your best to stay calm and rational, I think that truly worked in my favor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you told your insurance company that the police are making such a request of you? If not, I think I would do that. If you have, what did they say?

They won't care at all. Nothing to do with them.

Yes I did tell the insurance company and they said I would have to go. I guess this sort of thing happens a lot, and the lack of damage alone should be enough to prove my innocence. They said to give the officer their number to call them if they had questions. The insurance company handled the whole thing very professionally and thoroughly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you told your insurance company that the police are making such a request of you? If not, I think I would do that. If you have, what did they say?

They won't care at all. Nothing to do with them.

Yes I did tell the insurance company and they said I would have to go. I guess this sort of thing happens a lot, and the lack of damage alone should be enough to prove my innocence. They said to give the officer their number to call them if they had questions. The insurance company handled the whole thing very professionally and thoroughly.

Good for your insurance company. I agree with the other posters who say you should go to the police station and remain calm and professional. This guy sounds like a complete wacko. Or, a professional fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, maybe when you cut him off he had to swerve to avoid hitting you and hit a rail or something that resulted in damage to his car. I'd say even if your car isn't what ripped his bumper off, you cut him off and caused the damage, so are at fault. Do you think he ripped his car bumper off just to be able to harass you? His behavior from the earlier thread makes it seem as if something did happen. Poor guy, because there is no way of proving what happened. I hate drivers like you who are totally oblivious as to why cutting in front of people is a problem. Maybe he can use the other thread as an admission of guilt on your part that you cut him off

Seriously. What if you DID cause him to have some sort of accident and drove off. Now we understand why he might have been chasing you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP....given the level of effort he gave chasing you down and coming up to bang on your car window, it is almost the type of behavior of someone whose car DID get hit and they thought the other driver was fleeing the scene. Is it at all possible that you did hit his car? I've seen minor accidents where one car doesn't have any visible damage but the other did. This sounds strange for him to go through to this level of effort and to make false reports just because he was mad. I'm thinking you actually hit him and didn't realize it.

Actually no. I was a victim of road rage once. The aggressor actually called the police on ME. All I did was a light toot on the horn when the driver in front of me clearly had. T seen the light had turned green after a good 15-20 seconds. He then proceeded to terrorize me to the point that I called 911 when he pulled up next to me and opened his glove box, making me fear he had a gun. I couldn't believe it when the police showed up at my house to investigate a claim of road rage. The cop 100 percent believed I was the wronged party and said it's a common thing for people w road rage to be the one to file the report. It's some kind of mental illness and complete lack of responsibly.

[Anonymous]

Great. Now even if you stay calm against the wacky ragers they can get "revenge" by taking your plates and filing frivolous police complaints and make your lives complicated. Hopefully the police are taking note of these angry people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great. Now even if you stay calm against the wacky ragers they can get "revenge" by taking your plates and filing frivolous police complaints and make your lives complicated. Hopefully the police are taking note of these angry people.

I think more people are going to be getting dash cams to protect themselves from crap like this, especially as the cams are getting cheaper and cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP....given the level of effort he gave chasing you down and coming up to bang on your car window, it is almost the type of behavior of someone whose car DID get hit and they thought the other driver was fleeing the scene. Is it at all possible that you did hit his car? I've seen minor accidents where one car doesn't have any visible damage but the other did. This sounds strange for him to go through to this level of effort and to make false reports just because he was mad. I'm thinking you actually hit him and didn't realize it.

Stop making sense.

Plus, everyone on DCUM is a victim.

Given how she described what happened, the other driver would have hit her--rear ended-- and would be at fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP....given the level of effort he gave chasing you down and coming up to bang on your car window, it is almost the type of behavior of someone whose car DID get hit and they thought the other driver was fleeing the scene. Is it at all possible that you did hit his car? I've seen minor accidents where one car doesn't have any visible damage but the other did. This sounds strange for him to go through to this level of effort and to make false reports just because he was mad. I'm thinking you actually hit him and didn't realize it.

Stop making sense.

Plus, everyone on DCUM is a victim.

Given how she described what happened, the other driver would have hit her--rear ended-- and would be at fault.

Actually if it were me being the one who got "hit," I would have simply taken the license plate and called 911. No need to engage in a 20 minute fit of rage chasing the person who hit me. Why risk my life doing that? I have the plate number and description of the car. That is all I need. What purpose would it serve to chase and and terrorize the person who hit you? Only someone with serious mental issues would do such a thing.

[Anonymous]

OP would have felt it if the entire front bumper was torn off of the car behind her, not to mention there being some damage to her rear bumper. The guy is clearly trying to make her pay for whatever slight she caused to his fragile ego. Filing a hit-and-run and demanding she pay thousands for a bumper he probably ripped off himself shows that he is a troublemaker. I'd go down and talk to the police about him in case he doesn't go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, maybe when you cut him off he had to swerve to avoid hitting you and hit a rail or something that resulted in damage to his car. I'd say even if your car isn't what ripped his bumper off, you cut him off and caused the damage, so are at fault. Do you think he ripped his car bumper off just to be able to harass you? His behavior from the earlier thread makes it seem as if something did happen. Poor guy, because there is no way of proving what happened. I hate drivers like you who are totally oblivious as to why cutting in front of people is a problem. Maybe he can use the other thread as an admission of guilt on your part that you cut him off

Seriously. What if you DID cause him to have some sort of accident and drove off. Now we understand why he might have been chasing you.

I was with someone who hit a parked car in a residential area because a lady running came from behind a large work van and didn't look before crossing in the middle of the road. The runner stopped when she heard the crash (had earbuds in) and felt horrible. She realized what she'd done and even told the officer who responded that she was responsible, but not according to the law. My friend got charged with failure to maintain control (I believe that was the wording). The officer literally told my friend that she would have been better off hitting the woman who ran out in front of her because then she wouldn't get a ticket/charge because it wouldn't have been her fault. Like, really? I asked, "what if it had been a kid chasing a ball?" and he said "same thing, stay your lane and path and hit them, don't swerve and hit a bystander or parked car."

So even if the OP did do something to cause the guy to hit something and tear off his bumper, OP isn't legally responsible. Or at least in VA OP wouldn't be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, maybe when you cut him off he had to swerve to avoid hitting you and hit a rail or something that resulted in damage to his car. I'd say even if your car isn't what ripped his bumper off, you cut him off and caused the damage, so are at fault. Do you think he ripped his car bumper off just to be able to harass you? His behavior from the earlier thread makes it seem as if something did happen. Poor guy, because there is no way of proving what happened. I hate drivers like you who are totally oblivious as to why cutting in front of people is a problem. Maybe he can use the other thread as an admission of guilt on your part that you cut him off

Seriously. What if you DID cause him to have some sort of accident and drove off. Now we understand why he might have been chasing you.

I was with someone who hit a parked car in a residential area because a lady running came from behind a large work van and didn't look before crossing in the middle of the road. The runner stopped when she heard the crash (had earbuds in) and felt horrible. She realized what she'd done and even told the officer who responded that she was responsible, but not according to the law. My friend got charged with failure to maintain control (I believe that was the wording). The officer literally told my friend that she would have been better off hitting the woman who ran out in front of her because then she wouldn't get a ticket/charge because it wouldn't have been her fault. Like, really? I asked, "what if it had been a kid chasing a ball?" and he said "same thing, stay your lane and path and hit them, don't swerve and hit a bystander or parked car."

So even if the OP did do something to cause the guy to hit something and tear off his bumper, OP isn't legally responsible. Or at least in VA OP wouldn't be.

If that cop gave your friend a ticket for failure to maintain control that was a pretty dick move given the circumstances....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. That sucks, OP. I wouldn't get a lawyer at this point. You have pics and you made a call to 911.

Anyone who speaks to the police, about a possible criminal matter that they may possibly be charged for, without a lawyer, is an idiot.

The police aren't interested in talking to you about the weather or if you should get new carpet. They're trying to see if they should/can charge you with a crime. Why would you help them in this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, maybe when you cut him off he had to swerve to avoid hitting you and hit a rail or something that resulted in damage to his car. I'd say even if your car isn't what ripped his bumper off, you cut him off and caused the damage, so are at fault. Do you think he ripped his car bumper off just to be able to harass you? His behavior from the earlier thread makes it seem as if something did happen. Poor guy, because there is no way of proving what happened. I hate drivers like you who are totally oblivious as to why cutting in front of people is a problem. Maybe he can use the other thread as an admission of guilt on your part that you cut him off

Seriously. What if you DID cause him to have some sort of accident and drove off. Now we understand why he might have been chasing you.

I was with someone who hit a parked car in a residential area because a lady running came from behind a large work van and didn't look before crossing in the middle of the road. The runner stopped when she heard the crash (had earbuds in) and felt horrible. She realized what she'd done and even told the officer who responded that she was responsible, but not according to the law. My friend got charged with failure to maintain control (I believe that was the wording). The officer literally told my friend that she would have been better off hitting the woman who ran out in front of her because then she wouldn't get a ticket/charge because it wouldn't have been her fault. Like, really? I asked, "what if it had been a kid chasing a ball?" and he said "same thing, stay your lane and path and hit them, don't swerve and hit a bystander or parked car."

So even if the OP did do something to cause the guy to hit something and tear off his bumper, OP isn't legally responsible. Or at least in VA OP wouldn't be.

If that cop gave your friend a ticket for failure to maintain control that was a pretty dick move given the circumstances....

Yep. Total cop answer.

Find someone to charge with something.