Phunny story....

[YELLAHEEP]

So this dingbat driving a stick-shift Saab sitting at a left turn arrow just ahead of my truck, drops the clutch and stalls it after lurching 12 feet forward. She frantically messes with the gears while slowly rolling backward.... then I see reverse lights come on and no brake lights.... she starts it and takes off..... in reverse......WHAM! Before I can do a damn thing. Friggin' hard hit too.

So, I take off my seat belt and start to get out to meet my vehicular assailant and check for damage.......... and the dingbat takes off! So, I get back in and take off after her, both of us running a red arrow. I'm honking and flashing my brights..... and she punches it and gets into traffic on the highway. I'm now driving like a total asshat in a 7,000 lb truck trying to get close enough to get the plate number. I do, jot it down, then pull along side honking and motioning for her to pull over.... but she won't look over. Her passenger is slapping her on the arm..... I'm thinking WTF? Maybe no insurance.... or sumpthin'......

So, I chill out and dial 911 on my cell to report this hit and run dingbat. And who do ya think answers my call? The one and only Jim "Yucca Man" from ! So, as I'm driving and trying to keep up and close to the dingbat, Jim's taking the info, typing into the CAD system...... and harassing me about why I'm out in the truck! "You towing the trailer? Got a parts Cherokee on the back?" he says.......

So anyway, I follow this dingbat for a few miles, all the while the right corner of the rear bumper skin is flapping around, until she pulls into a gas station. I block her in, and then tell her I have the cops coming and to just sit there. I didn't need a confrontation.... and to be honest, I probably scared the bejeezus outta her following her around in my menacing Ram 3500.... And not a moment later the Cavalry arrives! 2 Doug Co units ready to help a brutha out! :thumbup: Thanks Jim!

I finally get to survey the damage..... and I only see a small dimple in the bumper, a smashed edge of the license plate and a gouge on the plastic bezel around the fog light.... I woulda sworn the bumper was gonna be dented and pushed back a few inches. I think her bumper musta hit the factory tow attachment that sticks out from my bumper.... Her Saab had that corner of the bumper skin loose, and some dimples/abraisions in the paint and bumper skin - you could see the indentation of the edge of my license plate.

And then the dingbat lies....... Swearing up and down she never backed into me. Claims to never have felt the cars make contact. She admitted to rolling backward, but no hit. I know that was BS, both she and her passenger looked back at my truck after the impact. She also claims that her Saab has a "safety feature" where she has to put it into reverse before it will start....... seriously?

CSP showed up and issued her a ticket for unsafe backing..... big whoop. Dunno if I'll even contact her insurance co. Dunno if they'd be able to see the damage. :dunno:

Anyway, Thanks Jim!

 

[Yucca-Man]

Heh-heh....!

You caught me right in the middle of a surge - had to air a fire call and listen for them to respond while I was trying to prioritize your call. As you may have noticed, you had to wait :shrug:

Didn't recognize your voice, but when you gave me your last name, I had to wonder...how many of them can there be? Glad to hear she was calm about geting stopped by the Dodge; I'm kinda surprised she never called 911 to report being followed. I love that excuse about the "safety feature" maybe I should remember that for use later.

BTW, I believe the phrase I used was "Got another parts Cherokee on the back?"

Jim www.yuccaman.com
Dispatchers - We tell cops where to go!

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Heh-heh....!

You caught me right in the middle of a surge - had to air a fire call and listen for them to respond while I was trying to prioritize your call. As you may have noticed, you had to wait :shrug:

Didn't recognize your voice, but when you gave me your last name, I had to wonder...how many of them can there be? Glad to hear she was calm about geting stopped by the Dodge; I'm kinda surprised she never called 911 to report being followed. I love that excuse about the "safety feature" maybe I should remember that for use later.

BTW, I believe the phrase I used was "Got another parts Cherokee on the back?"

Jim www.yuccaman.com
Dispatchers - We tell cops where to go!

Yeah, both the Doug Co. Deputies and the CSP Trooper criticized her for not calling 911 herself - or at least asking her passenger to do it while she drove like a retard...

And you're right - you did say "another"...... :spin1:

 

[devilinside13]

go ahead and report it , git a big check for the damage and if you want let me know and i can get tthe parts cheap from the dealer i work at.

 

[98POSXJ]

Man I wish my life was that intresting, except im usually the one in trouble with the cops... they really dislike my jeep!

 

[jpbxj79]

That sucks. I had a saab 900 turbo at one point, the reverse feature is for theft prevention, you can only take the keys out when its in reverse. So if its hot wired, you have to steal it, and drive it to the chop shop backwards. Dont know how that would make a diference, but glad to know all worked out, sort of. Jim

 

[Rev Den]

So, I get back in and take off after her, both of us running a red arrow.

While I understand your actions......

You do KNOW better.....right?

Got road rage?

Rev

 

[ExNews4XJ]

While I understand your actions......

You do KNOW better.....right?

Got road rage?

Rev

Road rage? Would you have sat and waited for the light to go green with a dented truck? While it is wrong to run the red I don't think it was road rage. Road rage is when someone cuts you off so you run them off the road, not following a hit and run. I think he did the right thing under the circumstances. I work hard for my toys and if someone were to damage them you better believe I am going to do every thing I can to make sure they pay to fix it, I don't know about you but I don't have money to spend on other peoples mistakes.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

While I understand your actions......

You do KNOW better.....right?

Got road rage?

Rev

What was there to know better about? I did what I needed to to keep from being a typical "frozen in the headlights" victim. Yeah, I was angry, baffled, concerned, and then it hit me.... I didn't have the license plate number..... so I followed her thru the red arrow, it's not like it had been red for long, it had just dropped from yellow since she was jacking around with the gear shift. People all around me saw what was going on, no one was moving. No where did I say I got reckless, careless or out of control.... I'd say she did for a while.... but that's what got me riled up... why did she run like that? I wasn't gonna be another statistic, I was gonna get the info I needed, then I simply followed and called my brothers in arms to let them handle things.... I could have easily pulled a P.I.T. maneuver, rammed her off the road... lots of things..... I feel I did the absolute right thing. And I wouldn't change a thing if it happens again.

Sorry you don't feel the same. Aren't you the guy that was zero tollerance for the fence painting guy?

You don't hit a cop.
Comply and work it out through the legal proccess just like everyone else.
In Chicago....they would have shot him.

Rev

Not saying anything about this because I'm a cop, just that I was a citizen that wasn't gonna take shit lying down. She shoulda handled things as normal people would. Get out, check for damage, talk with the other driver and do what's required.

I guess she woulda got shot huh?

 

[Hypoid]

Not bad for an awshit reaction. Most people never learn to panic, never learn to think physical description or plate number when the sky is falling.

I'm surprised she didn't try to say that you rear-ended her, must be an honest dingbat. LOL

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Not bad for an awshit reaction. Most people never learn to panic, never learn to think physical description or plate number when the sky is falling.

I'm surprised she didn't try to say that you rear-ended her, must be an honest dingbat. LOL

Funny you bring that up..... the CSP Trooper did ask me if there was any possibility she might suggest that. I asked to see his tape measure and went to my license plate. I measured from the bottom of it to the ground, then went to her car and measured the bottom of the mark/indentation my plate left on her bumper to the ground. There was about 5" difference where the mark on her bumper was higher - thus lending truth that she was under acceleration backward causing the rear of her car to lift. Had I rearended her, and likely hitting the brakes just before impact, the mark woulda been lower than the static height measurement.

Yeah, I have traffic accident training....

 

[98POSXJ]

Most people dont react and that is the problem! I had some old lady back into my parents GTO (about 2 weeks after they got it) while I was sitting in it in a parkin lot. She drove away and I got her plate # chased her ass down and pulled in front of her blocking her in. It was no little tap either, it rocked the whole car. She claimed to have had no idea also. We didnt end up calling the police but i got her info and money to fix the car from her insurance!

 

[Rev Den]

Sorry guys....driving as much as I do I have a much different view on this, but thats me.

I would, and have, gotten the plate 1st, if I missed it, no biggie. Call the police, then my insurance agent....it was ONLY property damage.

I would not have followed an unknown person blowing my horn and flashing my lights, driving like an "asshat in a 7000 lb truck"


JMHO

Rev

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Sorry guys....driving as much as I do I have a much different view on this, but thats me.

I would, and have, gotten the plate 1st, if I missed it, no biggie. Call the police, then my insurance agent....it was ONLY property damage.

I would not have followed an unknown person blowing my horn and flashing my lights, driving like an "asshat in a 7000 lb truck"


JMHO

Rev

Sure....... but you've probably never had your insurance agency give you the run around, hinting that you caused the damage yourself, not some "mystery" hit and run driver........ I've heard that happen all to often.

Plus, Colorado like many other states is no longer a "no fault" state where insurance is concerned. If I needed to get my damage fixed and I didn't have at least the license number of the vehicle responsible for a police follow-up, I'd have to pay my deductible to get my vehicle fixed. So, I'm the one who has to contact her insurance company and argue the damage and value. I wasn't gonna be paying for shit in this instance, I was getting what I needed and was owed. Period.

The core of my issue was that I knew beyond any doubt that both the driver and passenger knew their car had collided with mine. Not stopping and contacting me was totally unacceptable to me, and against the law.

I left that whole thing knowing I'd taken care of my situation legally and morally. I gave her something to think about for the future, and a ticket to memorialize her stupidity.

Had she simply got out of her car and we looked at our vehicles..... I'd have probably just told her "Have a nice day" and went about my business.

Sorry Rev, we're simply gonna have to agree to disagree.

 

[formatt]

How did she only get a ticket for "unsafe backing" when she left the scene of an accident? I was always under the understanding that that was a pretty serious infraction. How does "I swear we never made contact" just get you out of it? After that guy posing as a cop a couple of years ago and pulling people over here on the north end of town, wouldn't most people (especially women) be more apt to call 911 if some random guy was trying to get them to pull over and following them unless they knew they screwed up and was trying to avoid trouble.

You're a cop so you have experience with this, you grabbed the tape to show the officer the heights and explained the acceleration under backing, etc... If there would have been more damage to your vehicle, would she have not gotten off so easy?

Honest accidents happen... just part of drving I guess so it's tough to get bent out of shape if its something so minor (nobody getting hurt) as getting backed into but leaving the scene... that's pretty serious to me, especially considering that Colorado isn't a "no fault" state and our current situation with a LOT of people running around without insurance (don't get me started on this one).

I'll climb off my soapbox now... it just really frustrates me. :banghead:

__________________
matthew - 99 TJ
formatt fabrications
www.formattfab.com

 

[philip_g]

How did she only get a ticket for "unsafe backing" when she left the scene of an accident? I was always under the understanding that that was a pretty serious infraction.

agreed. that sounds like bullshit

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Basically it came down to how badly I wanted to have to show up in court in support of the Trooper's traffic charges.

We both decided not to charge leaving the scene because both she and her passenger claimed to not have known they hit me..... would be a long day in traffic court for me to show up and testify, then wait for both she and her passenger to testify, then me get back on the stand for re-dress....... Since I didn't have any independant witnesses, the backing charge was very defendable, and I'm sure she got the bejezus scared out of her.... I figured this was a better outcome since I didn't have but very minor damage. If she tries to challenge the unsafe backing charge, I'll definitely go to court then and ask the D.A. to add the leaving the scene before it goes to trial....

Yeah, you'd think it'd be pretty clear: new damage on her car, my testimony of being hit by her car, her driving away without contacting me..... but you have to prove intent..... that she knew she hit me and made the decision to leave.

All this crap is probably exactly why lots of people just shrug off minor damage.

 

[Yucca-Man]

Not bad for an awshit reaction. Most people never learn to panic, never learn to think physical description or plate number when the sky is falling.

I'm surprised she didn't try to say that you rear-ended her, must be an honest dingbat. LOL

Having talked to thousands of them - I have to correct that statement of yours.

• Most people never learn how NOT to panic.
• Many people have NO clue where they are, even if it's the road they've driven to work every day for ten years.
• Vehicle descriptions are beyond the capability of many. This includes color (even 'light' or 'dark' would be a starting point), and "compact car", "sedan", "SUV" and "van" are too difficult to guess at.
• Human beings can be some of the most non-observant creatures out there. I can't begin to guess how many times we've had reports of "I just saw a car roll over" when they fail to notice the people standing around the vehicle...that has 8 inches of snow on it.
• People are LAZY. They think that because they have a cellphone, they can report other people who are in distress without stopping to see if they can help...I guess it somehow clears their flimsy conscience to call 911 instead of helping others.

I love my job, but there are times that I just can't believe the behavior and (in)actions of my fellow man.

Jim www.yuccaman.com
Dispatchers - We can't make this sh!t up!