Advice...Wife Cited for Hit and Run....

[ST Guy]

While I'm not denying that she didn't notice it, pulling in, scraping the car, and then immediately leaving is certainly suspicious vs pulling in, scraping, doing your business, and leaving. It makes it look like you're trying to get away.

Yea, the fact that she pulled in and then pulled right back out again doesn't look good. And the fact that she didn't, at first recall going there doesn't help either. But she was quite taken aback by the sudden appearance of 3 officers who sat her down on our front steps and also of the questioning they did. The young officer (of the three) kept telling her (paraphrasing) that if she'd simply tell the truth, things would go better for her. Since she really was unaware that she hit another car, she was already telling the truth and had no other tale to tell.

And for those who can't understand how one could make contact with another vehicle and not know, it happens all the time. It all depends upon the type of contact, angle of attack (so to speak), materials involved, speed of the contact, etc., etc. If you really don't think it's possible, think of the last time you discovered a cut/abrasion/bruise on your arm or leg and had no clue, even after thinking about it, when or where it happened. One would think with all the nerves in our skin that cutting or abrading or crushing tissue enough to bruise it would be immediately noticeable and memorable. Obviously that's not the case.

As for not recalling at first that she'd been there, the officers first asked her where she had been yesterday and she said she'd been to Los Gatos. The reason she didn't recall, at first the short detour to the post office is that she never completed her business there, didn't even get out of the car. And she goes there all the time for other business so a 2 block trip to a place she goes to all the time and where nothing of any note happened was something not easily recalled when she's a bit freaked out by the presence of the officers. Normal human reaction.

 

[ST Guy]

As does not remembering you had been there when asked by the police, until presented with video evidence.

It is true that many people get away with this stuff where there aren't cameras and witnesses present. Sure pissed people off to return to their car and find damage and no note.

See my above post.

And yea, some people will lie their asses off to avoid personal responsibility. I hate people like that. And it's sad that a law(s) exists solely to address personal responsibility.

 

[ST Guy]

it sounds like to me she knows she hit the car and she is sticking to her lie.

What about what I've stated makes you say that? A general cynicism about humanity in general?

My wife, had she known she hit someone, would have made every effort to find the owner of the car and failing that, would have left a note, probably left one as well with a nearby business. She is honest, ethical and takes personal responsibility for all her actions. She volunteers at various women's and men's homeless shelters and used to volunteer/teach at a now defunct Santa Clara county program for alcohol and drug abusers.

(And no, my wife is not a drug or alcohol user, nor has she ever been, except some wine on the weekends. And, of course, the officers explored that possibility when they questioned her.)

 

[ST Guy]

The next time someone taps your car, I hope you will take a $15 bottle of touch up paint and you'll be okay with it. You make it sound like it was trivial. Repainting a bumper is not always the case as todays plastic bumpers shows stretch marks and can easily cost over $500 not a $15 bottle of touch up paint. I've been in the car repair business for over 25 years.

I don't know where you get your attitude. I said nothing at all to trivialize the damage. Where have I said anything that attempts to downplay the damage to the other person's car? You're pulling things out of the sky with your statements. If you reread what I said, I said that the damage to our car was minimal and other than a few small bits of scraped paint on the bumper, there was no permanent damage or deformation. I said this to support the point that it would be easy to not notice a scraping against another car when the points of contact on my wife's car were all plastic which deforms easily and doesn't transmit sound like metal does.

Yes, it's a bummer to have your car hit. And even more of a bummer if it's new. I know, it's happened to me more than once. But things happen in life. And both our insurance and the other person's insurance company now have all the info they need and it's being taken care of.

FYI, on a whim, I stopped by the parking lot this morning and found the car that my wife scraped. With a couple of inquiries in the local shops, I found the owner and we exchanged information. I also apologized profusely several times. This is what my wife would have done at the time of the incident had she known it had happened.

 

[ST Guy]

Only thing I can add to this thread is that last year I was sitting in front of a coffee shop in Albany. A woman was parked on the street, talking on the phone waiting for some friends. Another woman pulls up in a new Mercedes and needs to parallel park, with the woman on the phone parked in back of her. She parallel parks but hit the phone-talking woman not once but twice, scraping both bumpers.

The woman who was parked honked after the second time, while the mercedes driver is getting out of the car. Now I'm thinking, she'll prob. go apologize after she gets out.

Mercedes lady gets out unaware of anything and I comment that she should go say sorry. She was completely taken by surprise and did not know she hit anything (not once, but twice!). I told her she should consider lowering her radio because she hit the poor woman's car twice. . .

Things can happen, not to say your wife is at fault but if someone is so distracted or unaware they hit something (and have unexplained damage) - their bad habits need to be addressed. (I guess that picture will explain a lot too) How does one get put on a picture and not aware they hit something?

Picture taken by someone in the parking lot as my wife drove off is what I think happened. Someone sees my wife hit the car and then sees her pulling out again, pulls out their cell phone and snaps a photo of the back of her car.

Your story illustrates perfectly that it's entirely possible to hit someone in a way that the driver is not aware contact has been made. Three factors make this easy to happen:

1. Modern cars (compared to those being built even just 15 - 20 years ago) are very, very well insulated, sound-wise.

2. Virtually every modern car now has plastic bumpers which stand out and away from any metal substructure. And often the corners of the bumpers don't even have a substructure under them.

3. In an effort to reduce weight, reduce cost, and increase fuel efficiency, the steel used in body panels has been getting thinner and thinner. This means that even with a plastic bumper scraping along the panel, the thin sheet metal can be easily deformed. There's hardly a car out there now that a 12 year old couldn't put a permanent dent or crease in by simply putting their hand on the panel and pushing. I even did that once myself when I bought a new Toyota 4Runner and wanting to find out if the alarm was set or not, I put my hand on the front fender and pushed to rock the car. I immediately put a crease in the fender and lived with that crease for the remainder of the time I had the thing. And this was an early 90's 4Runner with heavier gauge steel in the fenders.

 

[ST Guy]

'Bottom line is that all this is decidedly inconvenient and the fact that my wife is (unfairly) facing a misdemeanor is stressing and somewhat freaking her out. Bad luck I suppose that the contact between the cars was light enough that she didn't notice it. Worse luck that she didn't have time to conduct her business at the post office as I'm sure the person in the parking lot that took the photo would have informed her of the damage as she got out of her car. This will work out in the end, I'm just hoping to avoid a misdemeanor for my wife.

 

[danate]

Honestly, I feel for you, but after reading this thread it is very easy to read her story as one that is possibly "fudged." This is from the objective point of view, not your own view of your wife which is as an honest person who couldn't do such at thing. Regardless, explaining the situation on here will not help her case at all.

As was already stated, speak to a lawyer. Make sure the claim goes to your insurance and gets settled up and let the lawyer try and get the charges dropped. As someone said, if the person she hit is content after having their car fixed by the time this gets to the judge, there doesn't seem to be much reason for them to charge her with anything. Most courts are reasonable when it comes to this stuff especially with people of good moral character.

So stop explaining on here and go get that attorney. http://www.avvo.com/ is a good place to look for one.

Good luck with everything!

 

[NorCalBusa]

First off, many thanks to all who have responded.

As for your comments, my wife was not in a hurry and simply realized when she arrived at the post office parking lot that she wouldn't have time to conduct her business at the post office and at the same time, make it to her appointment in Los Gatos without rushing. So she left immediately upon arriving at the parking lot. We live close by so she figured she'd simply do it later.

Woah dude- you are totally missing my point. That is merely an example of what a lawyer can do with what you have posted, you asked the question.

As I wrote, I never believed or suggested it to be the truth- so cool yer jets and read more carefully.

 

[bojangle]

Yes, she was cited for misdemeanor hit and run, 20002 (a) CVC.

If facilitating an information exchange was an option, it's unfortunate that she was cited. Is facilitating an information exchange an option that San Jose police officers have?

There is no video that I'm aware of, simply a photo (taken by I don't know who) as she drove off to her appointment.

Sounds like the officers made a bad arrest. They cited her for a misdemeanor not committed in their presence, and did it the following day where it can be considered a stale misdemeanor. If they were writing a report and charging hit and run, the proper way to do so, given the circumstances in this case, would be through a DA referral.

It's good that you guys located the owner and exchanged information, even after the fact. Hopefully this is settled before she goes to court for the hit and run, or at least is in process of being settled. I'm betting she can get the charges dropped in the end. Talk to a lawyer.

 

[ST Guy]

Woah dude- you are totally missing my point. That is merely an example of what a lawyer can do with what you have posted, you asked the question.

As I wrote, I never believed or suggested it to be the truth- so cool yer jets and read more carefully.

'Sorry if you took my response the wrong way. I was replying matter-of-factly, rather then getting my panties in a bunch. I was just clarifying things in general. And I appreciate your and everyone else's feedback. Thanks much.

Also, I believe that everything will be settled and the other person's car will be repaired long before the court date.

Does anyone know how much a lawyer would charge for a case like this? I plan on contacting some lawyers and see what they say. Any recommendations in San Jose in the area bounded by 880, 1st street, 87, and Camden?

What a pain in the ass...

 

[ST Guy]

Sounds like the officers made a bad arrest. They cited her for a misdemeanor not committed in their presence, and did it the following day where it can be considered a stale misdemeanor. If they were writing a report and charging hit and run, the proper way to do so, given the circumstances in this case, would be through a DA referral.

It's good that you guys located the owner and exchanged information, even after the fact. Hopefully this is settled before she goes to court for the hit and run, or at least is in process of being settled. I'm betting she can get the charges dropped in the end. Talk to a lawyer.

The more I think about it, the more I think we'll talk with a lawyer. Your comments about bad arrest and stale misdemeanor are interesting and I'll bring the ideas up with the lawyers.

Note: I will not say where I got these tidbits.

 

[asdfghwy]

This seems like your wife knew what happened and immediately pulled out hoping to get away. It might not be true, but to an outsider, I'd be surprised if they saw it any other way.

 

[explorin]

What about what I've stated makes you say that? A general cynicism about humanity in general?

My wife, had she known she hit someone, would have made every effort to find the owner of the car and failing that, would have left a note, probably left one as well with a nearby business. She is honest, ethical and takes personal responsibility for all her actions. She volunteers at various women's and men's homeless shelters and used to volunteer/teach at a now defunct Santa Clara county program for alcohol and drug abusers.

(And no, my wife is not a drug or alcohol user, nor has she ever been, except some wine on the weekends. And, of course, the officers explored that possibility when they questioned her.)

I said that because she knew she had some type of business to do at the post office, knew she was running late so she ditched the plans. Which to me is tottaly reasonable. What is not is the fact she pulled in, then thought o I need to leave. To me she would have realized she couldn't go to the post office, and never even pulled in the parking lot. Why wait to the last second to decide? As in pull into he parking lot, look for a spot, park, THEN decide I need to leave immediately. And to forget even going there? She never finished the business she had to do, so she had to then decide to do it later or tomorrow...it just doesn't add up...

Btw, honest people lie too.

 

[ST Guy]

This seems like your wife knew what happened and immediately pulled out hoping to get away. It might not be true, but to an outsider, I'd be surprised if they saw it any other way.

Yea, that's the problem. It could look like she left because she hit the other car.

This is one of those shitty situations where circumstances conspire to say one thing while another thing is the actual true story.

 

[explorin]

I want to believe you and your wife, but I just see to many variables. At the very least, I hope everyone's car gets fixed, and no one receives a unfair punishment.

 

[ST Guy]

I said that because she knew she had some type of business to do at the post office, knew she was running late so she ditched the plans. Which to me is tottaly reasonable. What is not is the fact she pulled in, then thought o I need to leave. To me she would have realized she couldn't go to the post office, and never even pulled in the parking lot. Why wait to the last second to decide? As in pull into he parking lot, look for a spot, park, THEN decide I need to leave immediately. And to forget even going there? She never finished the business she had to do, so she had to then decide to do it later or tomorrow...it just doesn't add up...

Btw, honest people lie too.

Have you never made a last minute decision about something? Changed your mind half way through a task and decided to do it later? I'm sure you have. We all have.

We live so close to the post office she thought she had plenty of time and only upon pulling in did it occur to her that she really didn't. It was an easy decision to make as she'd been putting off mailing the packages for a couple weeks and another day or two wasn't going to make a difference.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Even with today's plastic cars a good driver would know where all 4 corners of their car are located, and it would be obvious, especially when pulling in to a parking space, if a bumper was getting too close to an adjacent car/pole/wall/etc.

But then, knowing that there are millions of people out there driving who barely know what color their car is it's not surprising that there are so few that really do know where their car's corners are...

 

[ST Guy]

Even with today's plastic cars a good driver would know where all 4 corners of their car are located, and it would be obvious, especially when pulling in to a parking space, if a bumper was getting too close to an adjacent car/pole/wall/etc.

But then, knowing that there are millions of people out there driving who barely know what color their car is it's not surprising that there are so few that really do know where their car's corners are...

True in an ideal world. And my wife is a good driver. But humans are fallible and make mistakes. And to make it more challenging, the car she drives has a somewhat long and swooping front end that even for me is sometimes difficult to know exactly where it ends. In more than 10 years of driving it, she simply misjudged this once. Shit happens.

 

[stan23]

I'd like to believe what you say about your wife. While her accolades are commendable, that in itself does not excuse her from what looked like happened. I have to say the evidence is pretty strong here.

1. She told the police she didn't remember being at the post office only one day earlier.
2. Pulling into the parking lot and immediately leave having pulled into a parking spot.
3. Her car is scratched up.

Any court of law would find her guilty.

Maybe i'm a bit sour because I recently got a hit and run on my bumper, and the person left no note.

Do you have a pic of the damage to her Murano? If it's just a light scratch, I would tend to believe that she didn't feel it. That may hold more weight to your case.

Also, just curious, I looked up the penalties for what she was cited:

1 Year Imprisonment in Jail
$1,000 – Maximum Fine
3 Years’ Probation
Victim Restitution
2-Point Driver’s License Deduction

-

Would this be case closed since the 2 owners worked it out with their insurance, or would the DA still go for the kill?

 

[busapassion]

Your words, "Clean that off and some touch up paint and it'll look new." If the cops didn't get involved, Would you have gone back to make it right?