Traffic Accident Questions

[JohnRich 4]

Two weeks ago my brand new car was side-swiped by an illegal Mexican with no driver's license.

Immediately after the scrape, the Mexican sped away at a high rate of speed weaving in and out of traffic, trying to escape. I pursued, safely, and caught up to him when he hit a red light. Initially I just wanted to get the license plate. But then I decided to try for more, and I pulled up alongside him, honking and waving for him to pull over. He made several lane changes trying to escape again, and also a U-turn. After one mile of pursuit, he finally relented and pulled into a parking lot.

The funny part is that I was driving a VW Beetle, and he was driving a Nissan Xterra SUV - it looked like a mouse chasing an elephant, and the mouse won!

He begged me not to call police. I did anyway, right in front of him. A police report was completed by the officer.

The damage was $820. The Mexican was charged with driving without a license, and failing to maintain a single lane.

His only I.D. was a blue Mexican consular's I.D. card. When I asked the police to check his immigration status, he responded: "We don't care about that."

Even though he was illegal and unlicensed, he DID have an insurance card indicating coverage. I thought that would be one piece of good luck out of all this.

After filing a claim against his insurance company, it turns out that he obtained the insurance only long enough to get the wallet card to make himself look like he had valid insurance, and to get his license plates, and then he canceled the policy.

So now I'm stuck filing the claim against my own uninsured motorist coverage. I'll be stuck with a deductible.

Attached: The narrative statements and graphic depiction of the accident.

Question #1: How can I go about getting law enforcement to add an additional ticket for no insurance coverage, now that it has proven to be invalid?

Question #2: Why didn't the cop give him a ticket for leaving the scene of an accident?

[Duckwater 0]

Just realize that you lettuce costs $1.99 not $4.99 and your new roof only cost $2500 and go on your way.....

[AggieDave 6]

Contact the local JP or the municipal court that the officer filed the initial citation with. You'll need to complete an application for complaint (most likely).

As for the FTLI, contact the department that did the investigation. Explain to a patrol supervisor your situation and ask that charges be brought. A warrant will have to be sought. If the supervisor blows you off, ask for his supervisor. Worst case, contact the County Attorney's office. For damage over $200, FTLI is a Class B and is handled by the CA's office.

As for immigration status, there's no way for a patrol officer to check that status. Even if there were, there wouldn't be enough officers to handle the problem. Basically police departments "don't care" about that because there's no way to care. Its a serious problem, No DL and FMFR, especially with illegal immigrants. Many hit and run accidents are due to the same situation in which you encountered.

PM or e-mail me if you have any other questions.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[tkhayes 348]

Go to the Chief of Police and tell them that if they do not pursue it, you will go to the media about their complacency.

In this day and age of 'homeland security', I find it hard to believe that you would not get someone's ear about all this.

[jsaxton 0]

Hopeless probably but you can go after him for the deductible in small claims court.

[simplyputsi 0]

Shoot first ask questions later, you are in texas after all.








purely joking here.

Skymama's #2 stalker -

[TheCaptain 2]

If you file a claim with your insurance for an uninsured motorist, your insurance company will pursue getting the money from the other driver or atleast that is what happened to me. A guy who did not have insurance ran a stop sign and I ended up totalling my car. He gave me a bogus insurance card and I ended up filing with my insurance company for an uninsured motorist claim. My insurance company in turn went after the guy and got the money from him.

Kirk
He's dead Jim

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

Contact the local JP or the municipal court that the officer filed the initial citation with. You'll need to complete an application for complaint (most likely).

As for the FTLI, contact the department that did the investigation. Explain to a patrol supervisor your situation and ask that charges be brought. A warrant will have to be sought. If the supervisor blows you off, ask for his supervisor. Worst case, contact the County Attorney's office. For damage over $200, FTLI is a Class B and is handled by the CA's office.

As for immigration status, there's no way for a patrol officer to check that status. Even if there were, there wouldn't be enough officers to handle the problem. Basically police departments "don't care" about that because there's no way to care. Its a serious problem, No DL and FMFR, especially with illegal immigrants. Many hit and run accidents are due to the same situation in which you encountered.

Too many acronyms! What's "FTLI"? What's "FMFR"?

I'll look into the application for complaint. But I don't want to complain about the officer, I want to complain about the uninsured driver. Is that the appropriate form?

I'll also find out what judge will be hearing his case, and write a letter to them explaining the additional facts that aren't on the official accident report. That worked fairly well when a paroled drug dealer destroyed my previous car in December.

I read the Houston PD web site on immigration status. Basically, as I understand it, law enforcement doesn't check that unless someone gets into the jail system. So by getting tickets issued against him, that's a first step. If he doesn't show up in court, then a warrant will be issued for his arrest. Then the next time he gets pulled over, he'll be taken to jail for the outstanding warrant. At that point, they'll find out he's illegal and send his ass home. So if nothing else, I've forced the first step in the process to have him removed.

I'm having all the bad luck lately. Six months ago a paroled drug dealer destroyed my Buick. I replaced it with the Beetle, and now an illegal Mexican has damaged that. Ack!

[JohnRich 4]

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If you file a claim with your insurance for an uninsured motorist, your insurance company will pursue getting the money from the other driver.

Yes, insurance companies hate to lose money. As long as there is someone they can go after, they will. And the Mexican will deserve it - I hope they find him and make him pay.

I had another thought. His vehicle registration info indicates a lienholder, which is financing the car. One of the conditions for a car loan is that you must have the car insured, so that the lienholder is not out all of his unpaid money in the event the car is destroyed or stolen. And since the Mexican has canceled his insurance, he is not fulfilling his obligation there either.

So, if I informed the lienholder of the insurance cancellation, would they move to repossess the vehicle, in order to protect their interest in the property?

[JohnRich 4]

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Shoot first ask questions later...

It never even occurred to me to pull my handgun or have it ready, even though the situation was a bit tense. And the guy could have been dangerous. When the cops arrived and asked for I.D., I showed my concealed handgun license, and they were unconcerned about it. They didn't even ask me where the gun was, or take temporary custody of it. I guess I looked mature and calm enough that they didn't figure I was going to go crazy.

[JohnRich 4]

One other thing I've done - a personal appeal. I sent the following letter to the Mexican, at both the address he gave police, and the address listed for him in the public phone records:

Dear Sir:

On May 19, 2008, you damaged my Volkswagen Beetle with your careless driving on Richmond Ave., inflicting $820 damage to my brand new vehicle.

I have since discovered that your insurance coverage was invalid, because the policy had been cancelled a month earlier. Thus, I cannot recover my damages from your insurance. That means that you are now personally responsible for this loss.

You made numerous statements to me at the accident scene that you would pay for the damage, including doing so in your own handwriting on the police report.

Now is the time for you to honor that statement and make good on your negligence. You didn’t have a driver’s license, and you didn’t have insurance, but you can redeem yourself somewhat if you just pay for the repairs. I am now asking you to do so.

You can mail me payment of $820 to the above address to set this matter straight. I have attached a copy of the damage repair estimate to show you the cost. I will expect to receive this payment within one month.

Failure to compensate me for this damage, will result in me filing a civil lawsuit against you, which I would win in court. That would then give me the power to have the police seize your property in order to satisfy my loss. It would go much easier for you if you just pay me now what you owe me.

I don't expect that will produce anything, but I have to give it a shot.

[Scoop 0]

Do you not have means to recover against uninsured drivers over there? It can be done over here. I would be surprised if there wasn't some way.

[StreetScooby 5]

I have heard actually collecting on a civil judgement is extremely difficult, if not impossible. FYI.

We are all engines of karma

[normiss 798]

I certainly hope you used a PO Box!

[mnealtx 0]

Quote

Shoot first ask questions later, you are in texas after all.








purely joking here.

Nah - *John* realizes that a car accident isn't a self - defense issue.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[catfishhunter 2]

You gave him a PO Box not your physical address right?

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[AggieDave 6]

FTLI is Fail to leave information. e.g. hit and run accident
FMFR is Fail to maintain financial responsibility, e.g. no valid insurance.

The complaint form is not against the officer. Its a complaint issued with the municipal court against the defendant. Basically its you as a citizen offering up a charge within the court.

Sorry to break it to you, but ICE (immigration) doesn't worry about non reportable (non-TRN) offenses in regards to immigration status. The class C insurance citation won't put a blip on their radar system. The FTLI, if you can get those charges brought, might.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[flyangel2 2]

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You gave him a PO Box not your physical address right?

I'm guessing you have never met John

Again, John lives in Texas and will shot first and ask later. If the guy was to turn up at John's house, I'd fear for the Mexican.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[catfishhunter 2]

Someone sleeping inside with a Gun has no defense against someone outside with a gun,maltov cocktail etc. and even less defense when he leaves the house.

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[mnealtx 0]

Quote

Someone sleeping inside with a Gun has no defense against someone outside with a gun,maltov cocktail etc. and even less defense when he leaves the house.

I'm guessing you're trying to make some sort of point here? What someone with a Molotov cocktail has in common with someone coming up to your door (which is what flyangel was talking about) is beyond me.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[AggieDave 6]

Either way, its a moot point. Making a thread about being on the loosing end of a traffic accident due to someone's in ability and unwillingness to drive legitimately and turning into something with a personal political agenda isn't that nice. Especially since its in Talk Back!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Nightingale 0]

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Especially since its in Talk Back!

That's a blast from the past....

[flyangel2 2]

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Someone sleeping inside with a Gun has no defense against someone outside with a gun,maltov cocktail etc. and even less defense when he leaves the house.

I'll say it again..............

You've never met John. John is THE MAN!

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[Kool-Aid 0]

As for immigration status, there's no way for a patrol officer to check that status. Even if there were, there wouldn't be enough officers to handle the problem. Basically police departments "don't care" about that because there's no way to care. Its a serious problem, No DL and FMFR, especially with illegal immigrants. Many hit and run accidents are due to the same situation in which you encountered.

Channel 13 did a big news story on this about a year ago and HPD said it was not even legal to ask about immigration status. I see this crap in my neighborhood all the time. HPD rarely ever stops a hispanic looking person even for obvious DD.

Oh Yea!!!!!!!!!!

[Kool-Aid 0]

I went through this in 96 and came out the loser. When I started asking the cops why they were not arresting this person for no TDL, insurance or ID, they put me in the corner and told me they will arrest me for obstruction of justice-REALLY! Good Luck.

Oh Yea!!!!!!!!!!