Got in a wreck...need ideas to prove my case

**CaptainCaveMan** · 09-16-2008, 02:20 PM

As if this week hasn't been shitty enough i have this:

On the way home from work last night i am following a semi. He pulls up to a red light that is on a slight hill. I'm about 10 feet behind him. He lets his foot off the brake and rolls back and slams into the front of my DD cobalt. By the time i noticed he was rolling backward i didn't have time to throw it in reverse. He then goes forward and turns and leaves the scene.

I stay put, and the cop comes. I tell him what happened and give him the plate number to the semi truck.

About an hour after i get home i get a call from the cops saying they just found the guy that hit me. I didn't ask what he said and i am going to pick up the police report tomorrow to find out what he said.

I'm hoping that he was drunk or had a fucked up log book or something, but i am worried about him trying to say that i rear-ended him.

I was talking to my father who used to install the air bag system into saturn Ions (same car), and he said that if i would have rear-ended him at the speed required for the damage that the sudden de-acceleration would have tripped the air bags, but as i was standing still the air bags didn't deploy. He said the sensor for the de-acceleration is under the carpet between the seats.

I've talked to some truck-drivers i know and they said there was no way this guy didn't feel us hit, especially if i hit him. He had all that weight going downhill so he may not have felt that, but it would have taken me some speed going uphill to do that damage and he would have felt that.

They should already have this guy for leaving the scene so maybe they will just put that he was at fault for everything on the police report. I hope so anyway. I'll pick it up tomorrow.

I've gotten an estimate for $3300 worth of damage right now.

Here are some pictures:

(nevermind the dirt, i've been road tripping alot the last two weeks for family funerals and hadn't got a chance to wash it)

**TempleU_WS6** · 09-16-2008, 02:28 PM

Man, that sucks. At least it wasnt your fault and hopefully everything will turn out.

**9t8z28** · 09-16-2008, 02:30 PM

Damn! That sucks! I would have went after him.

He left the scene! And he must be a rookie to roll back that much

**volleybill** · 09-16-2008, 02:32 PM

No witnesses? Good luck with it, it is classic "he said, they said" Your word against his- from the damage and point of impact, he could easily claim he was stopped, and you hit him- even though you called the police, it could just mean that you were covering yourself or trying to recoup your losses- Like you say, unless the driver was impaired, you probably won't be able to prove anything-

**CaptainCaveMan** · 09-16-2008, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by 9t8z28

Damn! That sucks! I would have went after him.

He left the scene! And he must be a rookie to roll back that much

I didn't need to go after him, i had his plate number.

**67CamaroRSSS** · 09-16-2008, 02:35 PM

A pair of pliers, a ball peen hammer and some Zaino should fix that right up, leaving you +$3300....

**CaptainCaveMan** · 09-16-2008, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

A pair of pliers, a ball peen hammer and some Zaino should fix that right up, leaving you +$3300....

Some chewing gum for the radiator also

**9t8z28** · 09-16-2008, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by CaptainCaveMan

I didn't need to go after him, i had his plate number.

The confrontation might have convinced him to fess up, then you could for sure get him for leaving the scene. Every accident I have been in, I did not leave until the person admitted to it being there fault.

**67CamaroRSSS** · 09-16-2008, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by CaptainCaveMan

Some chewing gum for the radiator also

Baahhh! That'll blow a bubble and pop. Use ground black pepper instead.....

**jknelms** · 09-16-2008, 02:53 PM

did you take a picture of the scene?

you could go off the idea that there were not any tire marks on the road caused by slamming on your brakes. or do slamming on ABS brakes leave tire marks?

**ReBop** · 09-16-2008, 03:03 PM

Hope you win the case.

In the future, never get that close to a truck on a hill. Be more aware if someone starts rolling back on you.

**9t8z28** · 09-16-2008, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by jknelms

did you take a picture of the scene?

you could go off the idea that there were not any tire marks on the road caused by slamming on your brakes. or do slamming on ABS brakes leave tire marks?

If there were any tire marks from CaptainCaveMan, it would either be a black strip or yaw marks.

**Speedy_Gonzales** · 09-16-2008, 03:37 PM

back b4 they passed a law that made trucks have the lower bar on the rear of their trailer, many people who had wrecked and was stuck had been dragged for a few miles b4 the truck driver knew what was going on. So yes he probally had no idea.

**Spaz** · 09-16-2008, 03:47 PM

well... being in the moving industry... truck drivers always get the short end of the stick in situations like this... even if they were rearended... you won't lose...

**Blackout99** · 09-16-2008, 03:53 PM

at least it wasnt the bird

**Smkn_TA** · 09-16-2008, 03:54 PM

10 feet is closer than I care to get, when I am on a hill and people get close I usually end up laying down rubber getting off the break to the gas and letting out the clutch.

**rbob93** · 09-16-2008, 05:22 PM

If you rear ended him, why did HE leave the scene??

**9t8z28** · 09-16-2008, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by rbob93

If you rear ended him, why did HE leave the scene??

good point!

**Spaz** · 09-16-2008, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by rbob93

If you rear ended him, why did HE leave the scene??

in a 20+ ton vehicle do you think he felt it??? i've hit a car in philly (sent his ass right through an intersection) and it felt like i went over a small speed bump.. only thing it did was bend my bumper and break my fiberglass gril...

**Zapper2003** · 09-16-2008, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by Spaz

in a 20+ ton vehicle do you think he felt it??? i've hit a car in philly (sent his ass right through an intersection) and it felt like i went over a small speed bump.. only thing it did was bend my bumper and break my fiberglass gril...

Smooth move, exlax.