Hit and Run, and Caught: Did I do the right thing?
 

So I have encountered this today... on Fraser Street near 46th

1. Parked my car on Fraser, went into the bank and did my stuff for about 15 minutes.
2. Came out, saw a Rav4 very close to my front bumper trying to park or get out.
3. Walked to my car, checked out my front bumper and noticed a 5" scratch mark that the Rav4 might have backed into.
4. By that time, the Rav4 had pulled away and was 1 block ahead of me.
5. Since there were no previous damages to my car, I was 95% certain that the Rav4 slowly backed into my car (tight spot).
6. Chased the Rav4, confronted him but he denied hitting my car. He claimed that I hit something else instead prior.
7. I asked about his scratch mark on his rear bumper, he said it was an old damage.
8. Got his plate, took some photos, reported to ICBC.

Now my question is...

Since the damage is so minimal, would ICBC even care? Will they just laugh at me and tell me to fuck off? Or will they investigate it and measure the scratch marks to see if the Rav4 in fact contacted against my car? It's definitely not going to be more than $300.

It's more like a principle thing. Why should I spend 1 hour of my time trying to polish/buff it out when it's not my fault.

Here are the pictures... I drive the black car

http://i624.photobucket.com/albums/t...IMG_0792-1.jpg
http://i624.photobucket.com/albums/t...IMG_0793-1.jpg

The red Rav4 that I think hit me

http://i624.photobucket.com/albums/t...IMG_0789-1.jpg
http://i624.photobucket.com/albums/t...IMG_0791-1.jpg

What should I expect ICBC do in response?

it's hard to see the damage (maybe it's just me) because both cars are dirty. i'd claim it if i were you. you can likely buff it out yourself if you know how, but like you said, why should you have to bother? especially if they won't own up to their mistakes

edit// i took another look closely, seems like you can see the damage. and if what i see as damage really is the damage that was caused, then it's easy to tell that the rav4 definitely was the cause of it. claim it for sure

you mentioned you only got the plate and pictures though. did you happen to get the persons dl too?

ICBC will probably get both cars in their shop and investigate.

Best case scenario, they fix your car and charge the other driver. The damage appears to be minimal, so the driver may end up paying it himself.

Worse case scenario, there's not enough evidence to pin it on the other driver and your claim is a hit & run and you pay your dedectible, if you decide to go ahead and get a shop to fix it.

No, I confronted the man after he finally stopped on Fraser and Marine. At the same time, he was all pissed off and waving his hands in the air when I asked him if he had collided with my car.

This happened in front of a bank and I parked in front of the door. If it turns ugly, I can probably ask to see the surveillance cameras.

^+1
^
and if they do deem it a hit and run you can just buff it out yourself, if you don't want to pay...so I would report it Good Luck

definitely report it. mainly because the guy is being an asshole about it. just to screw him over, i'd do it

maybe if he'd manned up and stayed at the scene and apologized or something, you'd probably just forget it. but the fact that he made you chase him down and then denied everything (all while being it asshole it seems), claim the hell out of it

but depending on how the camera was pointed, since it seems like a very light hit, you may not even be able to tell he hit your car (if the camera is facing the rear of your car). might just look like he got really close

Report it and take it into icbc, they wont' tell you to fuck off.

then he will have to bring his car in. they'll take pictures and match it up. if they deemed it was indeed him that hit you, he pays for the damage.

problem is he could say you hit him.

free paint for sure
that happen to me where i saw someone backed into my car and he denied he did and my car had like 1 inch scratch very not noticeable. Icbc still fixed for me

If the Rav4 person does say that, cant OP just tell ICBC to look at the Bank surveillance cams too see that OP wasn't in the car during the hit n run

Yea that would be problematic if he turns around and say I have hit him. But I got evidence that my car was parked. (As it will show in the banks tapes)
Posted via RS Mobile

^ I doubt that he reported it to ICBC.
So if he does turn around and say you hit him, ICBC will be wondering why he didnt report it in the first place.

Hope everything goes well for you. I fucking hate hit and runners.

Without deductible?
Posted via RS Mobile

it is a principal thing but at the same time, he damaged your property. even if its a little scratch id get it fixed since someone else damaged it and you caught him. good on you for catching up to him.

Another note is that I am not 100% sure if it's him as I didn't witness or hear the impact. It's just that all the evidence point towards the Rav4 driver. That's why I want to see if ICBC would do something about it.

Who knows, maybe he is telling the truth and someone else backed into me instead. ICBC appointment this Thursday. Keep you guys updated if with what the adjuster has to say.
Posted via RS Mobile

Its possible that it could be his bumper that came in contact with yours. Im staring at the pictures of his bumper and its pretty dirty/dusty. If his bumper did come in contact with your bumper, wouldnt it remove the dust/dirt and leave a clean but scratch mark behind? The same goes for yours, but did u happen to rub ur finger across the scratch on ur bumper?

Report it. ICBC will not deny your claim on the grounds that it is too small.

I was recently sitting in my parked car gathering my things before stepping out. A minivan was backing into the spot in front of me and when it became obvious that he wasn't going to stop (i.e. 3 inches left and he's still backing up) I honked. He stopped about an inch short. I was glad to catch that.

You're lucky you saw the incident. Report it.

Did ICBC mention they will arrange the owner of the RAV4 to bring in their car to the claim center too?

P.S: How did you confronted him / get him to pull over? :fullofwin:

Both cars were dirty due to the snow and salt on the road. The camera didn't capture the scratch marks clearly. Basically he had a pretty scratch up rear bumper already. My bumper has zero marks. However, there's a scratch mark on his bumper that looks exactly the same as mine. That's why I reported it to ICBC and let them determine the fault.
Posted via RS Mobile

Report it. I've done this a number of times for small incidents with ICBC and they always come through and investigate thoroughly no matter how small the damage. Just be truthful about what you saw and they will investigate. Vancouver drivers need to stop trying to park by feel.

Reminds me of some drivers in downtown. This woman bumped the cars at her front and rear while she parallel parked between the two cars. She walked off like it was nothing....

The dail-a-claim lady didnt say. She just asked me to go to a claim center.

Usually, when I see a car gets very close near mine, I will try to remember the plate. But this time he left so fast I only got his 3 digits.

I started from Fraser and 47th. He was stopped at a red on 49th. So I decided why not? At least I tried if the Rav4 wasn't the one that hit me. Chased him on Fraser down to Marine. I think he knows I am following him so he tried to lose me. Finally he pulled into one of those warehouse parking lots and did U-turn. I honked, followed, he parked on the curb, I went in front of him.

Got out of my car and asked him to roll down his windows or step out. He stepped out and asked me why I kept on chasing him. I asked him about what happened back at Fraser and 47th and he started denying he touched my car. I started taking pictures and told him ICBC will determine whether he backed into my car or not. He continues to deny and he left his car parked there and went into one of the warehouses. I guess he works around there.

Anyways, he could have a gun or knife to stab me. But I just wanted to clarify the situation.
Posted via RS Mobile

report to icbc and hopefully straight that bitch up and own up his mistake

same thing happened to my except his damage was 2 licence plate screw dents from car in front of him. icbc gave him free paint job if he wanted. he took the cash.

Although i agree it's a principal thing..It doesn't look like much so if it were me, i'd rather spend the hour one evening to buff it out than have to spend time going to ICBC, working an appointment into my schedule, etc. with a chance that it might not even go through.
However, maybe you have a flexible schedule and the time to do this.

agreed on that this is a principal matter. see how both cars are evaluated. If it comes out that they think that the person in the red rav4 are responsible for the damages, i suggest not to get the bumper repainted, but to get ICBC to pay for professional wetsanding and polishing of the rear bumper. For such small damages i would rather retain the original paint of the car. Best of Luck.