Hit and Run advice

[eqlso]

So today, my wife is driving, with me in the passenger seat, going south on woodbine just past John on the left lane. A big silver cargo van (sorta like the Dodge Sprinter) switches lane from the middle lane and runs into us. We signal to pull over and start changing lanes, but the van isn't moving. We pull up to beside the van and honk at them and tell them to pull over. They made eye contact but didn't say anything. We thought they were pulling over, so we pulled over again. Instead they kept going, and we couldn't catch up as the light turned red at Steeles.

We only got a partial plate, and me being stupid, didn't take a picture or write down the full plate. Called 911 and reported it, and they told us to get to the collision centre in Hillcrest Mall. We reported it, but it doesn't seem like they're going to do much for us, as they said they can't find the van in their system, and they require a full plate number. I got the numbers in the ### #@@ plate, but didn't remember the 2 letters. Called insurance, and they said without the full plate, they can't do anything.

So I guess I'm stuck with the damage. They hit the front passenger bumper and fender, dents + scratches. Both my wife and I are fine physically. Any advice on what else can be done?

[Booostin]

Oh damn that blows... To be honest I think you are out of luck because as you said yourself you only got a partial plate... I guess during the whole event you are kinda excited and not thinking clearly which happens. Take it as a learning experience unless someone else has some better advice?

BTW, did they hit you hard? Do you think its possible that he didnt know he hit you or was is blatantly obvious?

[vinnierap]

At this point without a lic plate or company name from the van (if it had) you cant do anything. This is a sh*tty situation and unfortunately you didnt get the full plate or a description of the driver. The police cant do anything without that vital information.

The only thing you can do is put a claim in with your insurance and absorb the cost, or fix the damage out of pocket.

Luckily you and your wife are ok and i hope the damage is not too bad.

If this ever happens again chase the bastard down and call 911 at the same time. Or at least try to get the ful plate and a description of the driver.

Hopefully it doesnt happen again. Good luck.

[eqlso]

Definitely wasn't thinking right. I was more absorbed in "why aren't they stopping?" and "how do we get them to stop?".

It was fairly hard. It shook the entire car and scraped it as they continued with the lane change even after hitting us.

Going to fix this out of pocket due to the cost most likely going to be under our deductible.

We called 911 after we realized they weren't stopping, but it was too late by then since they already got onto the DVP and I was stuck at the onramp light.

Thanks for the advice. Even if we did the the full plate, would that be sufficient information for the police/insurance to go with? Or would we have to get witnesses as well? This has definitely been a learning experience. The most difficult part now is calming my wife down since she's scared to drive.

[vinnierap]

with a full plate they could have at least found the vehicle, and if there was a cop in the area pulled it over. Someone could have been held accountable for there actions. Also if you had a description of the driver that would help as well.

[Hoodzy]

I'm glad we pay out the ass for our complete and utterly useless plating system. Even if you have half the plate it should still be extremely useful.. You search for what you know it gives you a list of all possible matches. Enter the colour.. possible makes.. It's extremely easy to narrow it down. However as far as I know the system can't do that whatsoever.. Or they are just extremely lazy being gov workers and all. Either way EFFING useless and too much money goes into that system.

[DumpInfo]

I know you mentioned you couldn't get the full plate but was there any damage on the body of the sprinter? I travel throughout the city daily and any tip would be useful. If I come across the description you give me I'll be gladly to PM the plate and description. However not sure whether that will do any good at this point.

[eqlso]

with a full plate they could have at least found the vehicle, and if there was a cop in the area pulled it over. Someone could have been held accountable for there actions. Also if you had a description of the driver that would help as well.

Ah that's true. It was two chinese males, I would say around 40-50.


I'm glad we pay out the ass for our complete and utterly useless plating system. Even if you have half the plate it should still be extremely useful.. You search for what you know it gives you a list of all possible matches. Enter the colour.. possible makes.. It's extremely easy to narrow it down. However as far as I know the system can't do that whatsoever.. Or they are just extremely lazy being gov workers and all. Either way EFFING useless and too much money goes into that system.

That's what I was thinking. When we told the 911 operator 4 digits, and it being a silver cargo van, I would think it would come up with anything, but they said they can't find it at all. I think the 4 digit + 2 alpha numeric ones are commerical vehicles too, so I would think there's less of them.


I know you mentioned you couldn't get the full plate but was there any damage on the body of the sprinter? I travel throughout the city daily and any tip would be useful. If I come across the description you give me I'll be gladly to PM the plate and description. However not sure whether that will do any good at this point.

Nah its ok. Thanks for the help though.

Here's some pics of the damage. Probably just going to get it fixed up by Richard.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l14/eqlso/IMG-20111102-00060.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l14/eqlso/IMG-20111102-00061.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l14/eqlso/IMG-20111102-00062.jpg

[greaves82]

yeah with the amount of cars on the road now a days, those two numbers would be very important. So you can either go through insurance or out of pocket :(, but the most important thing is that you and your wife are ok

[aZuMi]

Damn that sucks man! Have you received a quote on the price of it? Unfortunately, I think this will have to come out from your pocket...

[Fuyuzora]

yeah with the amount of cars on the road now a days, those two numbers would be very important.

Two characters aren't as much as a problem as you might think.

Assuming the rest of the plate is 100% accurate, if the two unknowns are alphabetical characters, there's only 26x26 = 676 plates to check.

If the two unknowns are alphanumerical, then there's 36x36 = 1,296 possible plates.

How many silver panel vans are represented in a set of only 700~1300 plates? Probably not all too many.

@OP: Sucks that the Ministry is being useless for you. Hope the damage is fixed without too much further trouble or cost on your part. :(

[p-o-g-i]

At this point without a lic plate or company name from the van (if it had) you cant do anything. This is a sh*tty situation and unfortunately you didnt get the full plate or a description of the driver. The police cant do anything without that vital information.The only thing you can do is put a claim in with your insurance and absorb the cost, or fix the damage out of pocket.
Luckily you and your wife are ok and i hope the damage is not too bad.

If this ever happens again chase the bastard down and call 911 at the same time. Or at least try to get the ful plate and a description of the driver.

Hopefully it doesnt happen again. Good luck.

That pretty much sums up my advice/ thoughts on this. Sorry to hear about the unfortunate accident.

[krimsalt]

the police are being lazy asses. They probably saw your damage and dont wanna do work considering you are physically fine. It is bs that you need a full plate, i know that you can give partial plate and the vehicle make/model/colour and it can be found.

[floodgatez]

... so sorry to hear this Danny. In situations like these, i don't know what i'd do. But imagining it gets me PISSED.

Sorry to hear things can't be resolved any better.

[ElectroJay]

Sorry about your car... I hope they catch that b@stard!