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Originally Posted by Cazzzidy
He is absolutely not going to make an accident report and claim injury. He is not going to attract attention to an accident that he caused if he most likely has no insurance or license (and is very possibly an illegal immigrant), especially since I could make the case it was essentially a hit and run.
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1) You don't know that he doesn't have insurance or a license. That's a big gamble.
2) Sure, you can say it was a hit and run.
But so can he. Right now there is no evidence to prove either way. He can say you were the one that freaked out and drove off when he asked for your information.
3) You're dreaming if you think reality has anything to do with injury claims. For example:
Ten years ago my friend was driving down the street, at the 35 MPH speed limit, when an old woman pulled out in front of him from a parking lot. He hit his brakes but ended up T-boning her anyway at a speed of about 25 MPH. Police came, reports filed, insurance contacted - everyone agreed she was at fault.
Fast forward to 364 days later - a day before the statute of limitations funs out for filing a personal injury suit - my friend received a subpoena in the mail. Sued. His "reckless driving" caused the old lady serious injuries and caused emotional damage to the grandson she had in the car with her.
My friend had moved across the country at that point, and had to make multiple flights across the country to deal with the lawsuit. Lucky for him, the lady sued his insurance company (or maybe his insurance covered such lawsuits..?), so his insurance covered his flight costs (they wanted him to win; they could countersue to recoup their costs).
Lady tells some bull**** story about how she was innocently driving down the street when my friend, coming from the other direction towards her at about 50 MPH, revving his engine like crazy, makes a miraculous, physically impossible, instantaneous 90 degree turn in the middle of the street and T-bones her still going 50 MPH.
She got laughed out of court.
Are you willing to bet that they guy who rear-ended you can't come up with a more believable story? And either way, it's going to cause you a lot of trouble (especially if you don't have your insurance co.'s resources to back you up).
If you do nothing, you are betting a lot on the assumptions I outlined above. Report it to the police and your insurance company. More than likely, especially if this is your first accident and you can demonstrate you were not at fault (you were rear-ended, so that should be easy), your premiums will not go up (though contrary to what others have said it is perfectly legal for them to raise your premiums here in California).
Report it first thing in the morning.