jollystomper
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2012
- Messages
- 6,188
Over a year ago I put dash cameras in our cars. So far the main benefit has been capturing scenery on several travel trips. But now it has helped me catch someone who hit one of our cars when it was parked.
Back in August I went golfing on a busy afternoon. I found a parking space, and noticed that the car in the space to the left had parked directly on the parking space line, both front and rear tires. The car to my right had left more room on that side, and I was able to fit into the space.
After I finished golfing, I put my bag and pull cart in the truck, and walked around to the left side of the car. I noticed that where the left rear quarter panel joined the bumper on that side was scraped and dented. Hmmm… now, it is an old car (2011 Camry), and could certainly use a paint job in some spots… but there are no dents and significant scrapes, or at least there were not any before this. It was not major damage, but noticeable.
On my windshield there was a note. Another golfer, whom I am friends with, left it saying “I have a picture of the car that hit yours, call me”. When I spoke to my friend, he said he saw the car that was next to me backing out – and hit my rear quarter panel and bumper. He went over to the driver, and asked him “are you going to leave a note?” The driver got out, look at what he did, and told my friend “I’ll go inside and leave the information at the clubhouse desk”, and went inside.
My friend had a funny feeling, and when the driver came out of the clubhouse, rather than confront him again, he drove in his golf cart to the clubhouse and asked if anyone had left information about an accident that just happened in the parking lot. The folks at the desk said no. My friend drove out in time to take a picture of the car as it drove out of the parking lot.
I could tell the car make and model from my friends picture, but the license plate was not completely clear, beyond the first 4 characters. But them I remembered the dash cam. It had an excellent video recording showing the license plate of that car when I parked next to it, also clearly showing it parked on the parking space line. In addition, while I do not have the dash cam wired into the car battery to stay on when the engine is shut off, I do have a solar powered power bank, as well as a portable battery jumper with USB ports, that I can plug the camera in to keep it on when I am away from the car. I do not always do it, but I did this time, and it captured the other car backing out, the vibration and noise made when it hit my car, and the conversation I mentioned about between John and the driver (faintly but you could hear the conversation was about what happened).
With the license plate information, my insurance company was able to find out who the car owner was and his insurance company he used. I opened a claim with his insurance company. I had the hardest time getting them to call me back, it took over 2 months. When I finally spoke with them, they told me the driver claimed his car was not at the golf course that day. I told them “well, I have proof” and sent them the videos and pictures from the dash cam, and the information from my witness. Their tune changed, they had the damaged appraised within a week (turned out to be over $1,600), and I received the insurance payment less than a week after that.
So… if I did not have a dash cam, even with having a witness, I might never have been able to track down the driver. Even if my witnesses picture showed enough to get the license plate, the dash cam video proved beyond a doubt that the driver hit me and it was due to his parking. If you do not have a dash cam, perhaps this situation will inspire you to consider getting one .
Back in August I went golfing on a busy afternoon. I found a parking space, and noticed that the car in the space to the left had parked directly on the parking space line, both front and rear tires. The car to my right had left more room on that side, and I was able to fit into the space.
After I finished golfing, I put my bag and pull cart in the truck, and walked around to the left side of the car. I noticed that where the left rear quarter panel joined the bumper on that side was scraped and dented. Hmmm… now, it is an old car (2011 Camry), and could certainly use a paint job in some spots… but there are no dents and significant scrapes, or at least there were not any before this. It was not major damage, but noticeable.
On my windshield there was a note. Another golfer, whom I am friends with, left it saying “I have a picture of the car that hit yours, call me”. When I spoke to my friend, he said he saw the car that was next to me backing out – and hit my rear quarter panel and bumper. He went over to the driver, and asked him “are you going to leave a note?” The driver got out, look at what he did, and told my friend “I’ll go inside and leave the information at the clubhouse desk”, and went inside.
My friend had a funny feeling, and when the driver came out of the clubhouse, rather than confront him again, he drove in his golf cart to the clubhouse and asked if anyone had left information about an accident that just happened in the parking lot. The folks at the desk said no. My friend drove out in time to take a picture of the car as it drove out of the parking lot.
I could tell the car make and model from my friends picture, but the license plate was not completely clear, beyond the first 4 characters. But them I remembered the dash cam. It had an excellent video recording showing the license plate of that car when I parked next to it, also clearly showing it parked on the parking space line. In addition, while I do not have the dash cam wired into the car battery to stay on when the engine is shut off, I do have a solar powered power bank, as well as a portable battery jumper with USB ports, that I can plug the camera in to keep it on when I am away from the car. I do not always do it, but I did this time, and it captured the other car backing out, the vibration and noise made when it hit my car, and the conversation I mentioned about between John and the driver (faintly but you could hear the conversation was about what happened).
With the license plate information, my insurance company was able to find out who the car owner was and his insurance company he used. I opened a claim with his insurance company. I had the hardest time getting them to call me back, it took over 2 months. When I finally spoke with them, they told me the driver claimed his car was not at the golf course that day. I told them “well, I have proof” and sent them the videos and pictures from the dash cam, and the information from my witness. Their tune changed, they had the damaged appraised within a week (turned out to be over $1,600), and I received the insurance payment less than a week after that.
So… if I did not have a dash cam, even with having a witness, I might never have been able to track down the driver. Even if my witnesses picture showed enough to get the license plate, the dash cam video proved beyond a doubt that the driver hit me and it was due to his parking. If you do not have a dash cam, perhaps this situation will inspire you to consider getting one .