Sorry about posting this here, feel free to ignore it, but I figured since this is probably the only online community I'm semi-active in, it's worth a shot.
I was coming back from the Circuit City in N. Attleboro, MA today. I was going south on Broadway in Pawtucket (RI), and a block before the East St. intersection, I noticed a guy waiting to pull out on the sidestreet to the left of me. There were already 4 or 5 cars at the intersection, waiting at the red light, maybe 30-40 feet in front of me, and I checked my mirror and saw nobody nearby behind me, so I decided to slow to a stop to let the guy out. He acknowledged me and noticed there were a couple cars coming the opposite way, so he had to wait a few seconds before pulling out in front of me. Personally, I'm not in that much of a hurry that I won't let this guy out in front of me, especially since we'd just be waiting at the red light anyway. So, I glanced in my rear-view again and honestly, don't remember if I saw anybody or not. If I did, it didn't register since he was so far back and I disregarded it because anybody who knows how to operate a vehicle has plenty of time to stop.
So, after a few more seconds, I glanced in my rear-view again and for a split-second, saw a gray/silver car about to slam into the back of me. I felt the impact shoot through my body and my neck and head whipped forward. My first instinct was to check my rear-view to survey the situation and my mirror just wasn't there- the crash had popped it right off of my windshield. So, I looked in front of me and saw a spot on the side of the road to pull over, so I did, I put my flashers on and started getting my wallet out. As I'd pulled up, I kept getting thrown off by my rear-view mirror not being there, so I had to crane my neck to see what was going on in my side mirror. I saw the guy still stopped a little ways back, where he'd hit me. From what I could see, he looked like he was up against the car that was parked on the side of the road, but I could be wrong. I thought that maybe he'd ricocheted off my car and came to rest along the side of this white parked car.
So, I was trying to get my bearings, and still thinking the guy was still behind me. I was honestly more concerned with getting my insurance card and info out of my wallet. This only took a few seconds, so as soon as I finished that, I grabbed my phone to call my mom, just to let her know I was ok and to ask her quick advice on the situation. Plus, I couldn't believe it, since she'd just gotten rear-ended earlier this week too. So, As soon as I got my wallet out and on the front seat next to me, I opened my phone and dialed her up. At the same time, I opened up my front door and after waiting for a couple of cars to pass by (since I'm not in the mood to have my front door torn off today, too), I got out with the phone to my ear. I told my mom what happened and that I was okay, as I walked towards the back of the car to see how bad it was. It took me a couple seconds to realize that the guy was no longer stopped where he'd hit me. I told her to hold on, put the phone in my pocket and looked all around. Since I hadn't gotten a chance to see him, aside from a couple split-second glances in my mirrors, the only details I had was the vague color of his car. He could have gone down one of the left or right sidestreets, kept going straight while I was getting my insurance info out, or even did a U-turn. All I know was that I didn't see him.
I saw a kid on a bike across the street and yelled to him, asking if he saw where the guy went, and he told me he went right at the intersection, down East St.. At this point, a man and a woman came older with a few young kids in tow, and they told me that he kept going straight, PAST my car, stopped at the light, then took a right onto East St. She told me that she didn't see the plate, and assumed that I did. I couldn't, because I didn't have my rear-view mirror, so I just assumed he was still behind me. Because I'm actually a decent human being, I never thought somebody would rear-end me in broad daylight, then just drive away while I was trying to get my Insurance info out of the way. So, nobody knew anything, other than he'd gone to the right a couple minutes ago and was probably long gone. I had nothing.
I just drove home with my bumper smashed in and no rear-view. My back bumper is pushed in on the right side, towards the bottom, so that was rubbing up against my tire while I drove. I got home, and I decided that I'd use my mom's car and try to drive back there, see if we could find the car, maybe somebody else who had seen what happened, or even if anything had happened to the white car next to me. We came up with nothing, even drove around a few side streets, hoping maybe to see a car of that color with a bashed-in bumper.
As it is, my car is in decent condition. Nothing else seems to be wrong, aside from the bumper, and even that isn't a big deal, because if we could just get it pushed back into place, I don't care if it's dented and scratched. I know there are plenty of things I could have done- immediately jumped out and gotten the guy's plate number, been more observant, maybe followed him and tracked him down...but I didn't. And maybe it's my fault, but I was completely shook up (it's my first ever accident in 4+ years of driving, I am VERY careful), and I kind of panicked a little bit. I shouldn't have been so naive, there are hundreds of things I could have done differently, but I didn't.
Does anybody have any kind of advice as to anything I can do, or am I just completely screwed now?
I was coming back from the Circuit City in N. Attleboro, MA today. I was going south on Broadway in Pawtucket (RI), and a block before the East St. intersection, I noticed a guy waiting to pull out on the sidestreet to the left of me. There were already 4 or 5 cars at the intersection, waiting at the red light, maybe 30-40 feet in front of me, and I checked my mirror and saw nobody nearby behind me, so I decided to slow to a stop to let the guy out. He acknowledged me and noticed there were a couple cars coming the opposite way, so he had to wait a few seconds before pulling out in front of me. Personally, I'm not in that much of a hurry that I won't let this guy out in front of me, especially since we'd just be waiting at the red light anyway. So, I glanced in my rear-view again and honestly, don't remember if I saw anybody or not. If I did, it didn't register since he was so far back and I disregarded it because anybody who knows how to operate a vehicle has plenty of time to stop.
So, after a few more seconds, I glanced in my rear-view again and for a split-second, saw a gray/silver car about to slam into the back of me. I felt the impact shoot through my body and my neck and head whipped forward. My first instinct was to check my rear-view to survey the situation and my mirror just wasn't there- the crash had popped it right off of my windshield. So, I looked in front of me and saw a spot on the side of the road to pull over, so I did, I put my flashers on and started getting my wallet out. As I'd pulled up, I kept getting thrown off by my rear-view mirror not being there, so I had to crane my neck to see what was going on in my side mirror. I saw the guy still stopped a little ways back, where he'd hit me. From what I could see, he looked like he was up against the car that was parked on the side of the road, but I could be wrong. I thought that maybe he'd ricocheted off my car and came to rest along the side of this white parked car.
So, I was trying to get my bearings, and still thinking the guy was still behind me. I was honestly more concerned with getting my insurance card and info out of my wallet. This only took a few seconds, so as soon as I finished that, I grabbed my phone to call my mom, just to let her know I was ok and to ask her quick advice on the situation. Plus, I couldn't believe it, since she'd just gotten rear-ended earlier this week too. So, As soon as I got my wallet out and on the front seat next to me, I opened my phone and dialed her up. At the same time, I opened up my front door and after waiting for a couple of cars to pass by (since I'm not in the mood to have my front door torn off today, too), I got out with the phone to my ear. I told my mom what happened and that I was okay, as I walked towards the back of the car to see how bad it was. It took me a couple seconds to realize that the guy was no longer stopped where he'd hit me. I told her to hold on, put the phone in my pocket and looked all around. Since I hadn't gotten a chance to see him, aside from a couple split-second glances in my mirrors, the only details I had was the vague color of his car. He could have gone down one of the left or right sidestreets, kept going straight while I was getting my insurance info out, or even did a U-turn. All I know was that I didn't see him.
I saw a kid on a bike across the street and yelled to him, asking if he saw where the guy went, and he told me he went right at the intersection, down East St.. At this point, a man and a woman came older with a few young kids in tow, and they told me that he kept going straight, PAST my car, stopped at the light, then took a right onto East St. She told me that she didn't see the plate, and assumed that I did. I couldn't, because I didn't have my rear-view mirror, so I just assumed he was still behind me. Because I'm actually a decent human being, I never thought somebody would rear-end me in broad daylight, then just drive away while I was trying to get my Insurance info out of the way. So, nobody knew anything, other than he'd gone to the right a couple minutes ago and was probably long gone. I had nothing.
I just drove home with my bumper smashed in and no rear-view. My back bumper is pushed in on the right side, towards the bottom, so that was rubbing up against my tire while I drove. I got home, and I decided that I'd use my mom's car and try to drive back there, see if we could find the car, maybe somebody else who had seen what happened, or even if anything had happened to the white car next to me. We came up with nothing, even drove around a few side streets, hoping maybe to see a car of that color with a bashed-in bumper.
As it is, my car is in decent condition. Nothing else seems to be wrong, aside from the bumper, and even that isn't a big deal, because if we could just get it pushed back into place, I don't care if it's dented and scratched. I know there are plenty of things I could have done- immediately jumped out and gotten the guy's plate number, been more observant, maybe followed him and tracked him down...but I didn't. And maybe it's my fault, but I was completely shook up (it's my first ever accident in 4+ years of driving, I am VERY careful), and I kind of panicked a little bit. I shouldn't have been so naive, there are hundreds of things I could have done differently, but I didn't.
Does anybody have any kind of advice as to anything I can do, or am I just completely screwed now?
a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around"