Hello and thank you for looking at my post.
As the title suggests, it's been a hell-of-a-day here in Los Angeles. After work today, I enjoyed a nice BBQ with my family. I head downstairs, only to find that my front bumper of my vehicle was torn off, and large white streaks of paint where on the front fender. Something wasn't right here. I bend down and find a white metal hindge from a seemingly larger truck. Then my brother recalls seeing the white truck drive by, hit something (which to my brother's belief was a pothole) and then continue on as if nothing had happened. I would've been furious at this hit-and-run except for one minor thing- The truck was parked further up the street. The driver was not there, but this one guy was looking down from a porch and started asking what I wanted when I started hanging around his truck. I informed him of my misfortune and he called up his buddy, who happened to be the one driving. I also decided to call the police to see if they may dispatch an officer for a police report and to report a hit-and-run. After about 10 minutes of waiting, the driver shows up and has a puzzled look on his face. I explained the situation and he claimed he was not aware of the damage he caused. We waited for 2 hours, and no cop showed up. My cousin suggested I continue to pursue this criminally and head down to the police station. I decided to go with my mother (who also had a scratch on her car, from which she believes the truck driver caused also) so that we may both file reports and decide whether we should pursue this criminally. The officer told me to take it to insurance, since I had the driver's name and insurance information. So, I decided to head out.
I start driving in my mother's car down the big boulevard that leads towards my house and out of nowhere, two males crossing in an unmarked intersection pop out in front of me. I did in fact notice the vehicles on the left lane were stopped, but I had reason to believe that it was to avoid being stuck in the intersection (the street was busy). I slammed on the brakes, but because the males were walking towards the rear of the vehicle, I drove on. I was driving about 25mph in a 35mph zone. The police officer behind me decided to cite me, rather than the jay-walkers.
She got my license, and my mother's insurance information. After about 15 minutes, she returns and writes out a citation.
The sitation is states:
I checked on the local DMV website, and it stated:
The first thing I came to mind is that I did not overtake any vehicle- I was in the right lane the whole drive home. Second, as previously stated- The two guys were crossing at an unmarked crosswalk. Because the street was busy from east to west (which is the same direction I was driving), no other vehicle would be able to drive without blocking the intersection, hence the reason I believed it was not totally necessary to stop, since there was no crosswalk afterall.
Sorry for the long read, but my two questions are:
#1: Should I pursue the man with the hit-and-run criminally?
#2: What can I do about my citation in order to clear up the fact that the infraction was not my fault, nor my intention? I want to make sure I don't spend any money on this matter and that I avoid having any problems show up on my mother's insurance records.
Thank you very much in advance, and I will greatly appreciate any response.
-David
As the title suggests, it's been a hell-of-a-day here in Los Angeles. After work today, I enjoyed a nice BBQ with my family. I head downstairs, only to find that my front bumper of my vehicle was torn off, and large white streaks of paint where on the front fender. Something wasn't right here. I bend down and find a white metal hindge from a seemingly larger truck. Then my brother recalls seeing the white truck drive by, hit something (which to my brother's belief was a pothole) and then continue on as if nothing had happened. I would've been furious at this hit-and-run except for one minor thing- The truck was parked further up the street. The driver was not there, but this one guy was looking down from a porch and started asking what I wanted when I started hanging around his truck. I informed him of my misfortune and he called up his buddy, who happened to be the one driving. I also decided to call the police to see if they may dispatch an officer for a police report and to report a hit-and-run. After about 10 minutes of waiting, the driver shows up and has a puzzled look on his face. I explained the situation and he claimed he was not aware of the damage he caused. We waited for 2 hours, and no cop showed up. My cousin suggested I continue to pursue this criminally and head down to the police station. I decided to go with my mother (who also had a scratch on her car, from which she believes the truck driver caused also) so that we may both file reports and decide whether we should pursue this criminally. The officer told me to take it to insurance, since I had the driver's name and insurance information. So, I decided to head out.
I start driving in my mother's car down the big boulevard that leads towards my house and out of nowhere, two males crossing in an unmarked intersection pop out in front of me. I did in fact notice the vehicles on the left lane were stopped, but I had reason to believe that it was to avoid being stuck in the intersection (the street was busy). I slammed on the brakes, but because the males were walking towards the rear of the vehicle, I drove on. I was driving about 25mph in a 35mph zone. The police officer behind me decided to cite me, rather than the jay-walkers.
She got my license, and my mother's insurance information. After about 15 minutes, she returns and writes out a citation.
The sitation is states:
I checked on the local DMV website, and it stated:
The first thing I came to mind is that I did not overtake any vehicle- I was in the right lane the whole drive home. Second, as previously stated- The two guys were crossing at an unmarked crosswalk. Because the street was busy from east to west (which is the same direction I was driving), no other vehicle would be able to drive without blocking the intersection, hence the reason I believed it was not totally necessary to stop, since there was no crosswalk afterall.
Sorry for the long read, but my two questions are:
#1: Should I pursue the man with the hit-and-run criminally?
#2: What can I do about my citation in order to clear up the fact that the infraction was not my fault, nor my intention? I want to make sure I don't spend any money on this matter and that I avoid having any problems show up on my mother's insurance records.
Thank you very much in advance, and I will greatly appreciate any response.
-David
