This happened in Dallas i-30 hov entrance. The entrance was made with cones/soft barrier poles, only enough for one car to fit in. I was about to enter when an Audi tried to speed in and swerve left. I think I was in his blind spot or they just assumed they would make it before me. I saw the car about to side swipe me so I drove into the soft barrier. There was a police car facing the other way at the scene already managing the hov. I do not have a dash cam. They just kept driving and did not stop. I called the police and followed the other car for a short while(shouldn't have), until the operator told me not to follow them. I got the plate number, my bumper was left hanging on its last few clips on the side. My wiperfluid tank was leaking. A few poles were stuck on my car until they eventually fell off on the way.
I did some research and a no contact accident with no video proof is basically useless to pursue? The police car on the scene, they transfered me to him and he said he heard me honking the guy but did not have the footage. Since the car was turned away the officer probably saw nothing either. So now the liable party can just deny it and I will have to foot the damage bill? It is very frustrating to know I saved the other party's car and life on a highway and they can just not stop and it won't even count as a felony because there was no contact. Was I supposed to just let them hit me? My roommate was in the passenger seat.
Actively avoided a crash but the other guy didn't stop and drove away. Is there nothing I can do?
byu/Fox-Child inInsurance
Posted by Fox-Child
3 Comments
You can’t cause an accident by avoiding another accident. You’d be liable for the damage done to your car and the barrier even if the guy stopped and exchanged information. Very rarely would an adjuster assign fault for proximate cause. I’ve only seen it done in extreme situations like vehicle driving down the wrong way causing multiple accidents for example.
AIUI, you’re out of luck. There was no contact, no witnesses. If you get to actually track down the other driver, they will, in all likelihood, deny any involvement in your problem (which isn’t all that far from the truth, from your description). If you’d let them hit you, you’d actually have a much better case.
I’m not saying it’s right, I’m saying that’s the reality you face.
Yeah, there’s basically nothing you can do. I mean, you can try to bring a claim, but it’s pretty likely that the other driver will claim they have no idea what you’re talking about. Best option is to file under your own policy and give your carrier the info you have on the other car. Maybe they’ll do something with it in a subrogation attempt, but I wouldn’t count on it.
And no, you’re not supposed to just let them hit you. That would likely have made things much worse for you. Not every injustice gets dealt with in this world, and this is likely one of them. But you’re not hurt, your passenger isn’t hurt, and your car will be fixed soon enough.
Oh, and I assume you’ve already ordered a dashcam. If not, Amazon is open 24/7 and you can probably have one by tomorrow, and certainly you’ll have one by the time your car is fixed.