- Feb 10, 2000
- 30,029
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On Saturday night here in Minneapolis, I was home watching the Badgers-Spartans game. It had snowed that afternoon and roads were slick, so I was perfectly content to just watch at home. During the fourth quarter, at about 10:45, I got a knock on the door: one of my neighbors and his friend told me someone had just hit and run my 2006 330i. They got the license plate number and a description, so I called 911.
I went outside to look at my car, and the car that had struck it (a Nissan Pathfinder) pulled up, just a couple of minutes after driving away. The driver, a woman about 35 years old) claimed she hadn't realized she hit my car and that she had only driven back because she saw these guys chasing after her (I think it's likelier she had a crisis of conscience and/or was afraid of getting arrested for hit and run).
The other driver seemed appropriately upset and sorry about hitting my car, and asked that I call the police back and say there was no hit and run. I told her, just come into my house and we can talk until the police arrive. She seemed sober and was pleasant. She said she was just turning around and slid backing out of a driveway across from my house, which seems believable to me.
In the house, I asked her to write a written statement confirming she was the one who struck my car, and got a photo of her drivers license. She was cooperative with both things. She said she was insured by Geico and everything would be fine.
The police came and I told them there was no hit and run, so they did not make a report. I reported it to my insurance Saturday night, and took these pics the following day. I also took a pic showing that I was parked right against the curb, lest there be some argument that I was somehow at fault for parking in front of my own house.
Today I spoke to my insurer, USAA, and spoke to the driver again (she and I had played phone tag on Sunday). Of course, the world being what it is, she has no insurance (as you might expect, there is a whole story there). USAA was great as always but I will be on the hook for my deductible ($500). The driver claims she will pay me back on a monthly basis - that would be nice but I'm not holding my breath.
Anyone have any predictions on what the repair will cost? Based on nothing but a wild-ass guess I am thinking $3-5K. There is significant deformation of the rear corner of the car - it's hard to see in those pics because the car is so dark and it was a gloomy day when I took the pics.
Ah well . . . it's only money, and not a ton of it, but it is annoying getting tagged, particularly by the uninsured.
I went outside to look at my car, and the car that had struck it (a Nissan Pathfinder) pulled up, just a couple of minutes after driving away. The driver, a woman about 35 years old) claimed she hadn't realized she hit my car and that she had only driven back because she saw these guys chasing after her (I think it's likelier she had a crisis of conscience and/or was afraid of getting arrested for hit and run).
The other driver seemed appropriately upset and sorry about hitting my car, and asked that I call the police back and say there was no hit and run. I told her, just come into my house and we can talk until the police arrive. She seemed sober and was pleasant. She said she was just turning around and slid backing out of a driveway across from my house, which seems believable to me.
In the house, I asked her to write a written statement confirming she was the one who struck my car, and got a photo of her drivers license. She was cooperative with both things. She said she was insured by Geico and everything would be fine.
The police came and I told them there was no hit and run, so they did not make a report. I reported it to my insurance Saturday night, and took these pics the following day. I also took a pic showing that I was parked right against the curb, lest there be some argument that I was somehow at fault for parking in front of my own house.
Today I spoke to my insurer, USAA, and spoke to the driver again (she and I had played phone tag on Sunday). Of course, the world being what it is, she has no insurance (as you might expect, there is a whole story there). USAA was great as always but I will be on the hook for my deductible ($500). The driver claims she will pay me back on a monthly basis - that would be nice but I'm not holding my breath.
Anyone have any predictions on what the repair will cost? Based on nothing but a wild-ass guess I am thinking $3-5K. There is significant deformation of the rear corner of the car - it's hard to see in those pics because the car is so dark and it was a gloomy day when I took the pics.
Ah well . . . it's only money, and not a ton of it, but it is annoying getting tagged, particularly by the uninsured.
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