If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all! (Taco hit and run!)

Finally bit the bullet and poured over 7k into my 2006 Tacoma 2.7, with 200k, trying to get another 100k out of it. It's a long story, much of it covered here in TW. However let's just say that at some point through the saga, I sincerely hoped someone (with insurance) would have hit and totaled the truck. However, I dug deep and dealt with those issues.
Thursday morning around 12:45, I'm sound asleep and hear a loud crash on the street. I go down to investigate. Somebody had hit the left rear of my Tacoma (parked on the street) so hard, it moved the truck forward about 4 feet! The only sign I see of the other car is a Honda badge that popped off the grill on impact. I call the cops, and two respond, pretty much with an "oh well!" attitude. They take a report and leave. I started to walk the neighborhood, reasoning that at that time of night, the person probably lived in the area. Within about a half hour, I find a Honda with significant damage to it's left front, in the parking lot of an apartment building. Coincidently, it was missing the Honda badge on the grill! I called the cops again and my two buddy's show up, apparently somewhat dazzled by my keen detective work! They got the owner out of bed (3 AM at that point), and she apparently admitted hitting me, but of course....she's uninsured! The cops weren't going to cite her for hit and run, or not having insurance, so I filed a citizens arrest complaint with them, and they cited her for hit and run on my behalf (didn't arrest her). Given where the truck was parked (under an ultra bright street light), I can't even imagine how she hit the left side of my truck that hard, with the left side of her Honda. She must have ether been wasted (they claim she wasn't), REALLY distracted with her phone, or fell asleep at the wheel. In any case, the angle would have been extreme, and strange. The cops claimed they never asked her for an explanation, and she didn't offer one! Her Honda is defiantly very screwed up, but I'm impressed that she was able to drive it away!
Anyway, I filed an Uninsured Motorist claim with my insurance company (I don't carry collision), but the maximum payout is $3500. Had two estimates done. the low was $5500, the high was $7000! New bumper, New tailgate, and a partial bed replacement (I didn't even know they could do that!). It doesn't show in the pictures, but the tailgate is toast, and only opens half way now. I joked with one of the estimators, telling him I had just replaced the left taillight (also hit in a parking lot), so I was glad THAT survived. He didn't see the humor, and dryly pointed out that their was a gap that shouldn't be there (red arrow), so it might not have survived after all. I had actually noticed that myself, but was trying to be funny! Apparently, I'm about as good at stand up, as the Honda driver is at driving. I'm amazed the Tacoma took that hit, and still runs fine! Hopefully the company will pay me the $3500 and I can get the Mighty Tacoma straight enough get a new bumper on, to make the new tailgate work!
Anyway, if you've made it this far, thanks for listening. Just needed to vent to someone!

 

I hope there is a silver lining somewhere in that cloud. At least you seem to be taking it better than most people would. Time to hit the U-Pull-It yards.

 

You learned a valuable lesson that cops aren't your friends and they don't like ''paperwork.''

They are almost always uninsured, while states may ''require'' insurance, they do nothing to follow up, cancel the tags and remove plates of those vehicles who bought temp insurance and then cancel it even when insurance companies are required to notify the state when they cancel. [Michigan requires it but nothing is ever done]

It should be a MANDATORY 90 days in jail for hit and run or driving with no valid insurance and revocation of all driving privileges and loss of their drivers license plus not allowing to register a vehicle until said time the penalty is satisfied or the driver of the hit vehicle is made whole.

States just want the money, they don't want to actually do anything on their part to crack down on uninsured vehicles, drivers, or hit and runs, it would cost THEM money.

Heck, you can't drive around where I live and NOT see license tags 2,3, or 4 years out of date and people driving the vehicles around daily. You KNOW they don't have insurance of any kind on their rides. And it's ''smile and wave, smile and wave'' by the police for the most part.

 

The problem is I have a hunch that even if I get a new tailgate it's not going to work right with the bed out of alignment. One of the estimators actually crawled under the truck, and said something ( I forget what she called it ) was torn. So, I'm not sure a new bumper would bolt on either! I'll go under there and get a video and post it.

 

Maybe try suing her in small claims court to get a few more bucks to make your truck whole again.

 

Yeah, I'm planning on doing that. I think the max here in California is $6,000, which, combined with the uninsured motorist payout would cover the repair. The problem is, I doubt she has anything (except a couple of young kids, from what I could hear!). Even if I get a judgment (I'm sure I would), I still have to collect.
The only leverage is that the judgment goes against her credit.

 

Small claims limit is $12500 for individuals in CA.

 

Really?! Last time I looked it was somewhere around $6,000. Guess it's been a while! Thanks, that brightened my day!

 

Some cops seem to be like cowboys. If it can't be done from the saddle on a horse or the seat of a patrol car, it isn't their job.

 

Got no room for spineless runaways.

GO GET HER

 

The thing is, just as guys, they should have been curious "HTF did she manage to do this without being wasted?". This is what transpired.
Me: "What did she say, how did she do this?"
Cop #1: "She didn't say. Did she say anything to you (addressing cop #2)?"
Cop #2: "Nope.".
Me: "Did she show signs of impairment?"
Cop #1: "No.".
What part of "investigation" do you NOT understand Occifers?! I realize it's not the crime of the century, but COME ON!
I've got a hunch they felt sorry for her when she rolled her kids out of bed at 3AM!
The reports going to be interesting. I'm guessing the lack of information will speak volumes.

 

And some people like to talk shit

 

And many more speak truth.

 

She wasn’t driving
The boyfriend, husband, etc was. But what is a cop going to do if they have someone admitting to it?

 

Try it sometime

 

I'm doing it here...you just don't accept it. Notice I said "some", not all, in my original post. Name one trade or profession where a certain percentage of the people really should be doing something else. Laziness, incompetence and just not caring about the job exist in all areas of employment and law enforcement is no exception.

 

All the more reasons to take this to court.

I would also suggest you request both the cops be on your witness list. Let the judge ask some questions about their crap investigations and such.

 

Well...that's certainly a possibility. However, I would assume the cops would ascertain who was in the apartment, especially before dragging little kids out of bed and into the parking lot at 3am. At the very least, I would expect them to ask for an explanation as to what happened for their report. Since they had been to the accident scene, and had just pulled her out of bed, her response would speak volumes, if she hadn't been in the car.
I don't expect them to go all "Sherlock Holmes" for what I'm sure they perceive to be a fender bender*. However, their apparent lack of curiosity given the circumstances was shocking!
*Given how out of control the Honda apparently was, someone could have been injured of killed on the sidewalk if my truck hadn't been there.

 

Snarkiness aside, I'm guessing you're a LEO, based on your response and the badge on your post. I know....I should have been a detective!
Seriously...Given the bizarre circumstances (I may provide a diagram), don't you think they should have at least asked her to explain how the accident happened?

 

Here's a diagram. Remember... the Honda moved the Tacoma at least 3-4 feet!