16 January 2012

Forensic advice

| Slumlord
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Well here goes, my first post, I’m looking for some bright advice from fellow Rioters. I was having some car battery trouble recently and unsuccessfully tried to jumpstart my car. Couldnt get it going and had to leave it further down the street on the nature strip (ie all wheels completely off the road) until i could get it towed back. I came back later that afternoon and someone had backed into my car. Now, I’m no detective, but noting where the car had been hit there was only one driveway the car couldve been exiting – the same house in our street frequented by police – where I’d noticed a blue car earlier that day. My front panel was smashed in with blue paint marks left on my car.

I went and knocked on their door – suprise suprise they immidiately knew I was there about the damaged car but had “no idea” how it had happened. I left and politely pointed out that I’d be keeping an eye out for the offending car in future.

Low and behold today (about a month after original incident) I saw a blue car out the front of their house, went down and it had damage to the rear bumper matching the exact point of contact had the car reversed into mine from their driveway. I went and knocked and was greeted with a bit of drunken abuse (at 10am) from inside the house, denials etc.

It turns out the car is owned by the guys mum who was visiting them. She came out and had an unconvincing story about another accident a few years ago.

It seems obvious to me this is the offending car given the fresh damage and exact matching paint to that left on my car. I grabbed a quick photo of licence plate and damage. At the time of the initial accident I spoke to the police but was told that even if I found the car no charges could be laid unless the driver was established. Their advice was it’s unlikely one of them would own up so basically there was nothing they could do. The officer was very polite but realistic about the chances.

My question/s to you is whether I can arrange my own testing of the paint left on my car to prove that was the offending vehicle and take some sort of action myself. Is there anyone who does this sort of testing privately (and cheaply)? Should the police be helping me?

For what it’s worth we’ve always made an effort to be neighbourly to these people despite the regular trouble at the house – which really makes me want to know if it was them.

Or should I just cut my losses and forget it ever happened?

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Sound advice folks. I’d consider an insurance claim, but I’m confident the 5 car break-ins we’ve experienced in the last few years would increase. I’ve actually been in the market for a home video surveillance as i suspect the same culprit/s were involved in those including one in the last 2 wks. I estimate the cost of the damage about $500-$1000 for a new front r/h panel.

Ultimately I’d like to be 100% certain that’s the car, currenly I’m about 99.9%.

EvanJames said :

PantsMan said :

I’ve always wanted to try the old valve lapping paste [a grease full of industrial dimond chips used for seating engine valves] in the oil trick.

Well, provided you can get *at* the oil, bleach does the trick.

Revenge is sweet, eh? An eye for an eye and all the rest of it.

Give the details to the insurance company, see if you can get a good result that way, otherwise forget about it. Making the lives of other people miserable isn’t a good life plan.

PantsMan said :

I’ve always wanted to try the old valve lapping paste [a grease full of industrial dimond chips used for seating engine valves] in the oil trick.

Well, provided you can get *at* the oil, bleach does the trick.

If ones car is photographed by a a speed camera and one claims not to be the driver, they have to nominate the driver or foot the bill.
Why should this not be the case if involved in an accident?

Dilandach said :

Cyph said :

Cut your losses. By the sounds of it these people aren’t exactly the charitable type and when/if presented with insurance claims they’re either going to (a) ignore it, or (b) tell you to fark off or (c) ignore it, tell you to fark off and smash your car windows.

He wouldn’t be presenting them with the insurance claims. The insurance company would.

There is the chance that they would indeed seek retribution but either keep your car out of harms way or install cameras to catch them in the act.

Yes, but he’s already confronted them, twice, about the incident. Now these peeps may be simple, but they’re not that simple. Install cameras to catch them in the act? Brilliant idea, why not put up barbed wire and electric fences while you’re at it – because there’s no chance that they could target, say, another part of your house, right?

Alderney said :

If I give away trade secrets about exacting revenge on people’s cars it may be held against me at a latter date. There a many tricks in the trade. Google them from a public terminal and you might get a few ideas.

+1 for letting the insurance company do the leg work for you (as long as the monetary value of the damage is sufficient to claim on insurance).

I’ve always wanted to try the old valve lapping paste [a grease full of industrial dimond chips used for seating engine valves] in the oil trick.

If I give away trade secrets about exacting revenge on people’s cars it may be held against me at a latter date. There a many tricks in the trade. Google them from a public terminal and you might get a few ideas.

+1 for letting the insurance company do the leg work for you (as long as the monetary value of the damage is sufficient to claim on insurance).

Cyph said :

Cut your losses. By the sounds of it these people aren’t exactly the charitable type and when/if presented with insurance claims they’re either going to (a) ignore it, or (b) tell you to fark off or (c) ignore it, tell you to fark off and smash your car windows.

He wouldn’t be presenting them with the insurance claims. The insurance company would.

There is the chance that they would indeed seek retribution but either keep your car out of harms way or install cameras to catch them in the act.

Cut your losses. By the sounds of it these people aren’t exactly the charitable type and when/if presented with insurance claims they’re either going to (a) ignore it, or (b) tell you to fark off or (c) ignore it, tell you to fark off and smash your car windows.

PantsMan said :

Put in an insurance claim and nominate that person as the driver at fault. The company will do the leg-work for you.

Yeah, give them any hell you can. Scum like this are thriving in today’s world where no one wants to hold them to account… they can get away with it and they know it. At the very least, make their lives less comfortable, the rottweiler-like attitude of insurance companies might work in your favour here.

Nuke em from space.

Yes – what PantsMan said.

I’ve had my car hit while parked and a witness left a note with the offender’s rego. Passed on those details to the insurance company and had no problems getting it fixed.

Depending on how much it cost to repair your car simply cut your losses.

Such deadbeats will do anything and everything to avoid paying for the damage, so chances are all you’ll be left with was a whole lot of wasted time and be not 1 cent better off.

Furthermore you may even find that if you pushed the issue too far with people like that things might start happening to your place (eg graffiti appearing on walls, or rubbish appearing on your front lawn etc)

Put in an insurance claim and nominate that person as the driver at fault. The company will do the leg-work for you.

Here_and_Now10:12 am 16 Jan 12

It seems from your story that the issue the police have is establishing the driver, not the car. So even if you do test the paint or irrefutably establish by other means that it’s the offending car, it doesn’t establish who was driving it.

The police themselves might have a more exact answer, but that’s how it sounds from the facts here, worse luck. (I thought the owner would already be up for answering a few police questions, but I my well be wrong.)

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