Hit and Run -- The Jeep Won

[aglass0fmilk]

Hi everyone,

The other day I was driving down my (residential) street around rush hour, 5PM. Someone in a Hyundai began riding my ass so I may or may not have brake checked him a little .

I won't do that again. I underestimated how crazy the general population can be.

I live near downtown in a small city so we get a lot of asshole commuters taking up our street parking and generally driving aggressively. I guessed he fell into this category.

So when I got to the stop sign at the end of my street, the Hyundai pulled around me and seemed to intentionally side swipe my front fender/bumper with their rear fender. Some sort of Kamikaze revenge tactic?

After I got over the initial shock I noticed the Hyundai start to flee the scene. So I pursued him as best I could. The Gladiator handled surprisingly well around the sharp turns while squealing the tires!

Unfortunately I didn't get a great picture of his plate due to the (somehow legal?) polarizing-tint plate cover he had... not suspicious at all. I remembered only the first three characters because they are the same as my other cars thankfully.

So I filed a police report. I figured the guy either commuted here a lot or lived around here because he knew the side roads pretty well (as did I).

Turns out I was right... my girlfriend found the vehicle a block away the next day on her way home from work.

See attached photos for Gladiator vs. Elantra results.

I'd say the factory Jeep bumper/fender help up pretty well! Probably a couple thousand in damages to the tin can Hyundai. They will be getting a strongly worded letter from the police (and hopefully some sort of fine...)

Now I have to decide if it's worth it to me to get insurance involved. I could just bolt on a new steel bumper and apply some touch up paint and probably forget it ever happened... the truck is getting close to a year old now... Maybe I won't feel as bad getting it all muddy now

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[ALVagabond]

My only question is: did you call the police once you found the car that hit you?

 

[arosen1997]

Assuming your deductible isn't bad id get insurance involved.

 

[Rex3rd]

That's hit and run definitely a ticket and nice fine.

 

[Gren71]

Assuming the looser in the car has insurance his/hers should cover that damage. Pursue the sh*t out of that.

 

[Jake]

Biggest problem that I see is for a cop to be able to give the owner a ticket, as the driver of the car. I can see the owner telling the cop they did not drive the car that day, could say someone else in their family could have been driving the car. Will be hard for a cop to say they were in fact the person behind the wheel. And no I am not a lawyer am just saying it will be hard to prove who was behind the wheel a day later. And yes it’s a bummer. Good thing it was a small scrape for the truck.

 

[Gren71]

Biggest problem that I see is for a cop to be able to give the owner a ticket, as the driver of the car. I can see the owner telling the cop they did not drive the car that day, could say someone else in their family could have been driving the car. Will be hard for a cop to say they were in fact the person behind the wheel. And no I am not a lawyer am just saying it will be hard to prove who was behind the wheel a day later. And yes it’s a bummer. Good thing it was a small scrape for the truck.

good point

 

[Gray_Bison]

Now I have to decide if it's worth it to me to get insurance involved.

Assuming the looser in the car has insurance his/hers should cover that damage. Pursue the sh*t out of that.

Doesn't matter if you brake checked him or not, what he did was illegal, not to mention fleeing an accident. Get insurance involved. Show them the pictures, and police report. Let your insurance work for you by getting his insurance company to cover the damage. Then you can collect a check or if you have a good shop, order a bumper thru them and let them do the work. Then all you pay is however much the extra cost is for an aftermarket bumper vs an OEM.

 

[Gray_Bison]

Biggest problem that I see is for a cop to be able to give the owner a ticket, as the driver of the car. I can see the owner telling the cop they did not drive the car that day, could say someone else in their family could have been driving the car. Will be hard for a cop to say they were in fact the person behind the wheel. And no I am not a lawyer am just saying it will be hard to prove who was behind the wheel a day later. And yes it’s a bummer. Good thing it was a small scrape for the truck.

It should fall back on the vehicle's insurance. Whoever it's covered under, if no one wants to fess up to being the driver, The insurance company still has a responsibility, assuming they're insured. If they're not, then the owner just a ticket for that.

Hopefully the OP can at least state if it's a male or female driver to help narrow it down.

 

[Jake]

I totally agree with you. Owner of the car is responsible for the damage. Insurance company should not argue with that point. But giving a traffic ticket to the driver, a day later as the person behind the wheel is a totally different nut to crack.

It should fall back on the vehicle's insurance. Whoever it's covered under, if no one wants to fess up to being the driver, The insurance company still has a responsibility, assuming they're insured. If they're not, then the owner just a ticket for that.

Hopefully the OP can at least state if it's a male or female driver to help narrow it down.

 

[BrntWS6]

Damn, his car is fucked. My DD is big, heavy and old. People always try and weasel there way in front of me in a lane merger. Had some guy in a new mercedes try it recently, came flying up next to me but there was no room. He thought i would slow down and let him in. There was zero traffic behind me so I did not. He was persistent till his tires started going into the shoulder gravel.

 

[futzin']

I bet the police will not pursue this, unless the guy confesses. If he/she says they know nothing about it, then no one can prove anything, I'm thinking. Sad. A similar thing happened to a friend of mine. Since he didn't get ALL characters of the plate they said they couldn't pursue it. Not very motivated, if you ask me. Hopefully the OP will get some satisfaction. The Hyundai is nicely thrashed; love that part!.

 

[Factoid]

Should have a nice clear picture of the plate now.

To the first two pictures, that is a mere flesh wound. To the third picture, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That dude is a true fuktard.

 

[wannajeep]

It's tempting but brake checking is a bad idea. I mean, in a hypothetical situation . Most "spirited" drivers have rides they care about and when tailgating don't want to actually hit you and damage their own. If they're being arseholds, take some pleasure in knowing you're the one controlling the pace while they get all worked up. Most important don't let it distract you, pay attention to what's in front of you not the rear view.

It would be great if police did some investigating and interviewing and put some pressure on him but it may come down to one's word against another and no proof. If you get to that sucky conclusion, take pleasure in your Jeep has a mere flesh wound, while whenever he looks at his carnage he remembers why he shouldn't be a <insert word of choice>.

 

[smlobx]

Should have a nice clear picture of the plate now.

To the first two pictures, that is a mere flesh wound. To the third picture, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That dude is a true fuktard.

It’s funny that virtually all the car accidents the Gladiator is involved with the other vehicle always gets screwed!
Love my Jeep!

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