4 ms·

I don't see this has a hot take. A couple weeks ago a car intentionally rammed into me from behind. I called 911 and the police took 30 minutes to arrive on t

I don't see this has a hot take. A couple weeks ago a car intentionally rammed into me from behind. I called 911 and the police took 30 minutes to arrive on the scene. The officer talked to me for about 3 minutes and then threw up their hands and said they wouldn't do anything because I didn't have a plate number and couldn't identify the driver. The police didn't even want to bother trying to get footage from nearby cameras when I called back and noted the location of several nearby security cameras that might have picked up the vehicle. By some miracle, I wasn't seriously injured.

SoftTalker 3y ago
More and more people have dashcams now for this reason. Of course those can be used against you as well. Honestly if there's no injury, the police aren't going to care too much about damage to your car. They figure you're insured, so you'll be taken care of. In most cities they have bigger fish to fry and a car accident with no injuries is just not that important. I don't think they're entirely wrong.
- iamatworknow 3y ago
  I had a situation a few years ago driving down a highway at night when all of a sudden I noticed a weird "thing" in the sky in front of me. It got closer and I swerved, but not enough to avoid it hitting the side of my car, taking off the side mirror and gouging up the front half of the drivers' side. Then I realized it was the plastic bed liner of the pickup truck in front of me that became unattached at highway speeds and flew into the air like a kite. My car was still operable, and I had a (poor quality, especially at night, but operable) dash cam, and the truck ahead of me didn't stop, so I sped closer to close the distance to the truck and for assurance, read out the license plate number aloud so the dash cam's microphone could pick it up before pulling over. Contacted the police, took them about an hour to respond, and the officer gave me his email so I could send him the video. It was hard to make out but you could definitely see the object leave the truck, and a few seconds later appearing in my view, and me swerving. Contacted insurance, they arranged the repairs, and I was out the deductible. About a week later I got a call from the police saying they looked up the plate and lo and behold, it wasn't even registered to a white pickup truck, but a blue sedan, so the plate was either stolen or swapped from another vehicle, at which point there really was no recourse. Long story short, even if you have a dash cam, sometimes you're SOL. I _did_ use that as an excuse to upgrade my dash cam to one with better quality and night vision, but yeah, shit happens, and if nobody got hurt sometimes you gotta just accept it.
  - MichaelZuo 3y ago
    The police in your area doesn't do anything about swapped or stolen plates? It's odd since they seem to be the group that would care most about the accuracy of plates matching the car.
    - iamatworknow 3y ago
      Maybe they do, or did in this case, but I wouldn't expect them to keep me informed on what happened.
  - P_I_Staker 3y ago
    I don't know what you expected the cam to do, lol. It seems your insurance paid out? If so, how does getting a good picture help at all? The guys a deadbeat with no insurance either way (assuming the apposing driver can be held responsible for damages, not the case in all states). Assuming you have fault based accidents and can sue for the full cost, again the guys a deadbeat. I don't think this is the money saving idea that it seems. I'm not sure what you're hoping to accomplish, honestly.
    - iamatworknow 3y ago
      I don't know what you expect this comment to do, lol.
      - P_I_Staker 3y ago
        > Long story short, even if you have a dash cam, sometimes you're SOL Quite simple: Explain how you would have benefited at all, or why you were SOL. It sounds like the outcome could not have been improved... I guess maybe you think that there's a better chance of the person getting caught. Are you just sad they weren't able to put someone in a cage, even though there's no financial impact on you whatsoever.
- FireBeyond 3y ago
  > More and more people have dashcams now for this reason. Of course those can be used against you as well. Most dashcams can track speed too. When I was shopping for a dashcam, many of the reviews/comments said that the first thing they do when configuring their new dashcam is turn off the speed caption (sure it can still be calculated from the visuals if needed, but that's a lot more work). Last thing you want when you're using dashcam video to show someone else was at fault in an accident is their insurer to say that you were 2mph over the speed limit and therefore partially liable.
- jabradoodle 3y ago
  Deliberately running someone over is not a car accident.
bamfly 3y ago
> The police didn't even want to bother trying to get footage from nearby cameras when I called back and noted the location of several nearby security cameras that might have picked up the vehicle. If it's any consolation, this is, IME, normal. Unless they stumble on a crime in progress, the cops won't do anything at all to actively attempt to catch the culprit, even when you have things like video of the car with license plates legible and it's the same car involved in a string of crimes. Maybe it's different for murder or something, but with other crimes they're basically useless, and that long predates the "defund" movement and all that.
- MajimasEyepatch 3y ago
  Even for murders, this is the case. The US significantly underperforms other developed countries in the "clearance" rate for murder cases, i.e. the number of murder cases resulting in at least one arrest. In 2020 the clearance rate reached a record low of slightly less than 50% nationally, and much worse in some cities. https://www.npr.org/2023/04/29/1172775448/people-murder-unsolved-killings-record-high https://www.npr.org/2023/04/29/1172775448/people-murder-unso...
  - P_I_Staker 3y ago
    Not a fan of the police from either a performance or ethics standpoint, but it's harder to make a case in the USA. There are a ton of cases where there's no arrest, despite some evidence.
- kbos87 3y ago
  My home was straight up robbed while I slept three years ago. The convenience store on the corner has cameras facing our property that the suspects walked directly beneath. Despite having been told this, the "detectives" never followed up to see if they could get the footage.
- hahamrfunnyguy 3y ago
  I get it, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing. And around here, a combination of defund the police and other factors have reduced the size of the police force. Patrols are down 40% since 2020. Hit and runs and other traffic incidents are up. None of the alternate solutions to law enforcement intervention have been implemented so we're just stuck with crime increases. Like a lot of places, we're dealing with an epidemic of people stealing cars for the lulz or using the cars to commit more serious crimes. I know there are plans to fix some of these issues and I hope our local government can stop arguing about how to do it and start getting stuff done.
FireBeyond 3y ago
Stepdaughter was just in an accident at an intersection. Officer, when they did show up: "Did you have a green light?" "I believe so." "Okay." Walks over to the other driver, then walks back to her with a citation in hand. "He says he definitely had a green light, so you're being cited for failure to obey a traffic control device." The conversations with both parties amounted to less than 30 seconds, each.

SoftTalker 3y ago

More and more people have dashcams now for this reason. Of course those can be used against you as well. Honestly if there's no injury, the police aren't going to care too much about damage to your car. They figure you're insured, so you'll be taken care of. In most cities they have bigger fish to fry and a car accident with no injuries is just not that important. I don't think they're entirely wrong.

iamatworknow 3y ago
I had a situation a few years ago driving down a highway at night when all of a sudden I noticed a weird "thing" in the sky in front of me. It got closer and I swerved, but not enough to avoid it hitting the side of my car, taking off the side mirror and gouging up the front half of the drivers' side. Then I realized it was the plastic bed liner of the pickup truck in front of me that became unattached at highway speeds and flew into the air like a kite. My car was still operable, and I had a (poor quality, especially at night, but operable) dash cam, and the truck ahead of me didn't stop, so I sped closer to close the distance to the truck and for assurance, read out the license plate number aloud so the dash cam's microphone could pick it up before pulling over. Contacted the police, took them about an hour to respond, and the officer gave me his email so I could send him the video. It was hard to make out but you could definitely see the object leave the truck, and a few seconds later appearing in my view, and me swerving. Contacted insurance, they arranged the repairs, and I was out the deductible. About a week later I got a call from the police saying they looked up the plate and lo and behold, it wasn't even registered to a white pickup truck, but a blue sedan, so the plate was either stolen or swapped from another vehicle, at which point there really was no recourse. Long story short, even if you have a dash cam, sometimes you're SOL. I _did_ use that as an excuse to upgrade my dash cam to one with better quality and night vision, but yeah, shit happens, and if nobody got hurt sometimes you gotta just accept it.
- MichaelZuo 3y ago
  The police in your area doesn't do anything about swapped or stolen plates? It's odd since they seem to be the group that would care most about the accuracy of plates matching the car.
  - iamatworknow 3y ago
    Maybe they do, or did in this case, but I wouldn't expect them to keep me informed on what happened.
- P_I_Staker 3y ago
  I don't know what you expected the cam to do, lol. It seems your insurance paid out? If so, how does getting a good picture help at all? The guys a deadbeat with no insurance either way (assuming the apposing driver can be held responsible for damages, not the case in all states). Assuming you have fault based accidents and can sue for the full cost, again the guys a deadbeat. I don't think this is the money saving idea that it seems. I'm not sure what you're hoping to accomplish, honestly.
  - iamatworknow 3y ago
    I don't know what you expect this comment to do, lol.
    - P_I_Staker 3y ago
      > Long story short, even if you have a dash cam, sometimes you're SOL Quite simple: Explain how you would have benefited at all, or why you were SOL. It sounds like the outcome could not have been improved... I guess maybe you think that there's a better chance of the person getting caught. Are you just sad they weren't able to put someone in a cage, even though there's no financial impact on you whatsoever.
FireBeyond 3y ago
> More and more people have dashcams now for this reason. Of course those can be used against you as well. Most dashcams can track speed too. When I was shopping for a dashcam, many of the reviews/comments said that the first thing they do when configuring their new dashcam is turn off the speed caption (sure it can still be calculated from the visuals if needed, but that's a lot more work). Last thing you want when you're using dashcam video to show someone else was at fault in an accident is their insurer to say that you were 2mph over the speed limit and therefore partially liable.
jabradoodle 3y ago
Deliberately running someone over is not a car accident.

bamfly 3y ago

> The police didn't even want to bother trying to get footage from nearby cameras when I called back and noted the location of several nearby security cameras that might have picked up the vehicle. If it's any consolation, this is, IME, normal. Unless they stumble on a crime in progress, the cops won't do anything at all to actively attempt to catch the culprit, even when you have things like video of the car with license plates legible and it's the same car involved in a string of crimes. Maybe it's different for murder or something, but with other crimes they're basically useless, and that long predates the "defund" movement and all that.

MajimasEyepatch 3y ago
Even for murders, this is the case. The US significantly underperforms other developed countries in the "clearance" rate for murder cases, i.e. the number of murder cases resulting in at least one arrest. In 2020 the clearance rate reached a record low of slightly less than 50% nationally, and much worse in some cities. https://www.npr.org/2023/04/29/1172775448/people-murder-unsolved-killings-record-high https://www.npr.org/2023/04/29/1172775448/people-murder-unso...
- P_I_Staker 3y ago
  Not a fan of the police from either a performance or ethics standpoint, but it's harder to make a case in the USA. There are a ton of cases where there's no arrest, despite some evidence.
kbos87 3y ago
My home was straight up robbed while I slept three years ago. The convenience store on the corner has cameras facing our property that the suspects walked directly beneath. Despite having been told this, the "detectives" never followed up to see if they could get the footage.
hahamrfunnyguy 3y ago
I get it, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing. And around here, a combination of defund the police and other factors have reduced the size of the police force. Patrols are down 40% since 2020. Hit and runs and other traffic incidents are up. None of the alternate solutions to law enforcement intervention have been implemented so we're just stuck with crime increases. Like a lot of places, we're dealing with an epidemic of people stealing cars for the lulz or using the cars to commit more serious crimes. I know there are plans to fix some of these issues and I hope our local government can stop arguing about how to do it and start getting stuff done.

FireBeyond 3y ago

Stepdaughter was just in an accident at an intersection. Officer, when they did show up: "Did you have a green light?" "I believe so." "Okay." Walks over to the other driver, then walks back to her with a citation in hand. "He says he definitely had a green light, so you're being cited for failure to obey a traffic control device." The conversations with both parties amounted to less than 30 seconds, each.