Hit and run car owner/ driver problem

[dllzf]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

We live in Ohio and have an Ohio driver's licence. The at-fault party seems to hold a non-Ohio licence. The accident happened in Ohio.

We were hit by a hit and run driver. No one is injured but the car seems like totaled. The at-fault party hit us and drive away really fast. There are about 4 witnesses at present, but since he drives really fast, none of the witness can identify his look. (according to our memory, which we are not 100% sure, the car window is black and it is not a regular see through window, and it is even harder to recognized the driver) Right now the police officer had obtained the vehicle's information, which is really wired and he can't contact the owner of the car. The register address is a camp ground. The associate phone number has no one answering the call or returning the phone call. Since no one could say that the owner is the driver, the police officer can't arrest the owner.
If the owner of the vehicle keep ignoring the calls, is there any other action we could do. It seems obvious that the owner, who's very likely to be the owner, must have some information about who's the driver at the time. Can't the court enforce him to present?

The police officer says hit and run is a criminal offense, so he will prosecute the driver. Will hiring a lawyer doing us any good at all at this point??????

Our insurance is only liability insurance, they won't do anything for us.

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

We live in Ohio and have an Ohio driver's licence. The at-fault party seems to hold a non-Ohio licence. The accident happened in Ohio.

We were hit by a hit and run driver. No one is injured but the car seems like totaled. The at-fault party hit us and drive away really fast. There are about 4 witnesses at present, but since he drives really fast, none of the witness can identify his look. (according to our memory, which we are not 100% sure, the car window is black and it is not a regular see through window, and it is even harder to recognized the driver) Right now the police officer had obtained the vehicle's information, which is really wired and he can't contact the owner of the car. The register address is a camp ground. The associate phone number has no one answering the call or returning the phone call. Since no one could say that the owner is the driver, the police officer can't arrest the owner.
If the owner of the vehicle keep ignoring the calls, is there any other action we could do. It seems obvious that the owner, who's very likely to be the owner, must have some information about who's the driver at the time. Can't the court enforce him to present?

The police officer says hit and run is a criminal offense, so he will prosecute the driver. Will hiring a lawyer doing us any good at all at this point??????

Our insurance is only liability insurance, they won't do anything for us.

The police will only be able to charge the driver of the car - who may or may not be the vehicle owner. They can certainly pressure the owner to disclose who was driving, but they can't force them to answer the question.

The actual liability for damages us an entirely different thing than criminal responsibility for the accident. The vehicle owner can be held liable if they allowed someone to use the car. It would be in their best interest to give up the name of the driver if not themselves if only to make someone else pay for your damage.

Criminally, there's nothing you can do at this point. Civilly, you can hire an attorney to sue the owner to recover the damages to your vehicle.

 

[dllzf]

The police will only be able to charge the driver of the car - who may or may not be the vehicle owner. They can certainly pressure the owner to disclose who was driving, but they can't force them to answer the question.

The actual liability for damages us an entirely different thing than criminal responsibility for the accident. The vehicle owner can be held liable if they allowed someone to use the car. It would be in their best interest to give up the name of the driver if not themselves if only to make someone else pay for your damage.

Criminally, there's nothing you can do at this point. Civilly, you can hire an attorney to sue the owner to recover the damages to your vehicle.

Thank You for your response. But we are having a serious problem which is that we can't get a hold of the owner. His register address is a camp ground and he won't answer a phone call, even the police officer is having trouble tracking him. If we hire an attorney and file an complaint to the court, assuming the court calling the car owner. What if the car owner can't receive the notice? It seems like the address he register is an invalid address. Then will him just be off the track then?

 

[Zigner]

How much is the totaled car worth? You won't be able to recover attorney's fees, so hiring an attorney may not even be worth it when pursuing a claim against the owner.

 

[dllzf]

total car worth

How much is the totaled car worth? You won't be able to recover attorney's fees, so hiring an attorney may not even be worth it when pursuing a claim against the owner.

It's a 2007 Honda with decent mileage around 55,000. The estimate cost should be around 10,000 dollars. How much are we looking at to hire an attorney in this case?

 

[sandyclaus]

Thank You for your response. But we are having a serious problem which is that we can't get a hold of the owner. His register address is a camp ground and he won't answer a phone call, even the police officer is having trouble tracking him. If we hire an attorney and file an complaint to the court, assuming the court calling the car owner. What if the car owner can't receive the notice? It seems like the address he register is an invalid address. Then will him just be off the track then?

Then you have a bigger problem.

If the owner isn't responding to anyone, then you're going to have a difficult time serving them for a civil claim for your vehicle damages. If the car owner doesn't receive a notice to appear in court for that, then you'll be unable to proceed with a lawsuit - attorney assisted or not.

I suppose you could hire a private investigator to track down the owner, but then it becomes a matter of whether or not the cost is worth it to you.

Just because your vehicle had relatively low miles is no guarantee of its total value. It may have had other cosmetic damage from prior collisions, or it may have had significant mechanical issues, both of which would dramatically lower that value. The age of the car makes a difference also - because if something wasn't broke already, the age of the car means it may have been about to go as well. Had you had the vehicle serviced or appraised recently? Anything that could help establish the value prior to the accident?

 

[ecmst12]

Or, you let the police do their job which you don't have to pay them for. If the police can't track down the owner, chances are a PI won't be able to either - and they probably don't have any money to pay you even if you found them. Your only hope lies with the car being insured, which it might not even be. I don't know if the car is registered in Ohio, but if so, state minimum coverage for property damage is only $7500. You are very likely going to take a loss of some kind on this either way. A car worth $10k is worth carrying full coverage (including uninsured motorist) on.

 

[dllzf]

Then you have a bigger problem.

If the owner isn't responding to anyone, then you're going to have a difficult time serving them for a civil claim for your vehicle damages. If the car owner doesn't receive a notice to appear in court for that, then you'll be unable to proceed with a lawsuit - attorney assisted or not.

I suppose you could hire a private investigator to track down the owner, but then it becomes a matter of whether or not the cost is worth it to you.

Just because your vehicle had relatively low miles is no guarantee of its total value. It may have had other cosmetic damage from prior collisions, or it may have had significant mechanical issues, both of which would dramatically lower that value. The age of the car makes a difference also - because if something wasn't broke already, the age of the car means it may have been about to go as well. Had you had the vehicle serviced or appraised recently? Anything that could help establish the value prior to the accident?

That is not fair if he could just get away from this. If someone classify as a suspect of a case, and keep traveling all over the places, he would never be able to get the notice. And the victim could never be able to file the lawsuit. That doesn't really make sense. There must be someways to track him other than wait him to call back. For example, by checking whom he had been contacting will be helpful on tracking him, but is this a violation of any regulation? Since he's only the suspect, the police officer says he can't take any further action except than waiting the call back.

I don't care that much about valuing the car. I believe once we get to the court, the judge or the system should have a fair way to value the car. We did save all of our car maintenance records. The value of the car might be adjusted up or down a little, but that is much better a case then no one showed up and take responsibility out of this. As long as the at-fault party being held responsible for this, we trust the professional judgement of the court and insurance system.

 

[ecmst12]

Life isn't fair, dude. That's why having good insurance is smart.

 

[dllzf]

Or, you let the police do their job which you don't have to pay them for. If the police can't track down the owner, chances are a PI won't be able to either - and they probably don't have any money to pay you even if you found them. Your only hope lies with the car being insured, which it might not even be. I don't know if the car is registered in Ohio, but if so, state minimum coverage for property damage is only $7500. You are very likely going to take a loss of some kind on this either way. A car worth $10k is worth carrying full coverage (including uninsured motorist) on.

Thank you for the advice.

My friend has a similar case happened in Iowa. The driver was uninsured and didn't have enough money to pay back. The judge makes him to pay the victim a certain amount of money every month until it paid back. I don't mind this driver in our case divided the payment to several periods. Moreover, the car he hit us with seems like brand new. If the court decide he's guilty, there will be an enforcement execution, right????

 

[dllzf]

Life isn't fair, dude. That's why having good insurance is smart.

Life isn't fair, that what the justice system is there for. Even if I have a good insurance policy, I don't even want to go through my insurance!!!! I hardly know the other party, why should I let their mistake to raise my insurance premium??????I don't want to pay for other's mistake!

 

[tammy8]

If you have insurance file it on your policy. I bet your insurance will be able to find out more info faster than a PI or PD.

You do have insurance, correct?

 

[sandyclaus]

If you have insurance file it on your policy. I bet your insurance will be able to find out more info faster than a PI or PD.

You do have insurance, correct?

They have liability ONLY.

 

[ecmst12]

And your premiums don't get raised when the accident is not your fault.

 

[Zigner]

I don't care that much about valuing the car. I believe once we get to the court, the judge or the system should have a fair way to value the car. We did save all of our car maintenance records. The value of the car might be adjusted up or down a little, but that is much better a case then no one showed up and take responsibility out of this. As long as the at-fault party being held responsible for this, we trust the professional judgement of the court and insurance system.

You are assuming the other party has insurance.

Furthermore, you are misunderstanding how the courts work. The court will NOT assign a value to your vehicle on its own. YOU must present evidence of you're vehicles value and the courts will then decided, based on the evidence presented, what the value of the vehicle is.