Car/boat wreck Hit and run

[bajabassboat]

Hi I was in a hit and run while I was trailering my boat. The kid ran into the engine of my boat while I was in stop and go traffic on the xway. He hit the back of my motor. Its a 86 johnson 150 on a 1984 baja worth about $3000-$4000. He must have been going 5 to 10 mph. The car is not registered to him and the owner has not been located due to the fact she is in another city close by. they have the car in impound and no one is claiming it. Police are only sending letters. Sounds like it going to be my boat insurance with $250 deductable.

He hit the skeg and it looks a little bent and the ss prop is bent. When I spin it it sticks in one spot now. Also, it looks as if the there is an aluminum piece of molding that goes over the transom and under the motor that has been jarred. Maybe a little bent but its not in the same position.

My question. Do I need them to tear apart the lower end to see if anything is bent and if the skeg is bent should I have them repair or replace the lower end. Anything else I should have them check? Sorry for long post.

 

[Thad]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

As long as someone other than you is paying for it, do it all now or YOU will be paying later.

The hydrolics could have damage, the transom could be seriously compromised, internal damage to the lower unit is probable. The list is endless.
Low speed hits are sometimes worse because the damage can not be seen right away. It takes time for the ugly monsters to rear their head after use.

Oh, sorry to hear you got hit, good thing you had ins.

 

[LIQUID PROZAC]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

welcome to iboats hate that this has happened to you--would definitely let insurance inspect the whole nine yards and repair so you don't have to later--maybe if they find this bum later the insurance can collect theirs back

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

Assume its a write off and is unrepairable, new boat time! I wouldn't touch it until you settle with the insurance company. Sorry to hear about the bad news, at least its near the end of the season.

 

[freelancer]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

Not good news As far as the damage goes, get the INS claim in because it may not only be the engine; he may have damaged the integrity of the transom...have it checked out. Sorry Capt.

 

[JeepinGunGuy]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

You might want to file with your auto insurance, since it was in tow it should be covered.

 

[Bart Sr.]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

Stainless props are very very rigid so in bending the prop the prop shaft could easily have gotten bent also.Not to mention the seals.I would have it looked over very very closely.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

I agree, my insurance guy told me that when the boat is in the garage it is covered by my house insurance, when it is hooked to my truck it is covered by my car insurance adn when it is in the water the rider on my house insurance covers others, no insurance on the boat itself.

AND, don't touch anything till an adjuster looks at it, i'm sure that woudl throw a monkey wrench into things if you had it partially dissasemble when they came to look at it.

Don't be suprised if it is totaled, your transom is almost surely damaged if it bent a trim peice on top.

This is my worst nightmare getting rear ended, sorry to hear it happened to you but at least you have someone to pin it on, probably wishes he would have waited to send that text message.

 

[bajabassboat]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

Well better late than never. The lady that owned the car said it was stolen from the bar she works at. Police think it was her nephew but I can't really id the bum. Description fits him. Boat repair said transom is good and strong. Prop shaft out by .005 so not going to replace. Pulling lower unit to have repaired repainted. Cost is 2000 but I am rebuilding prop so I still have some $ if other damage pops up. Also Insurance is sending another $1000 because the new paint doesn't match on entire motor so they are going to pay to have entire motor painted. Everything seems to be ok a year later.

 

[soaringhiggy]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

She owns the car and she is liable for it and the damages it caused. Have you thought about small claims court?

When the pinch is on she may well know who was driving it.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

Incidents like this drive me nuts. Chances are the driver took the car without permission or perhaps it was stollen. But since they have the car in impound, you can do some of the leg work that the police and insurance companies likely won't. Believe me, the more you do yourself the better off the outcome will be. Get the license number and serial number off the car. Locate the registered owner and armed with that info, start with a phone call requesting insurance information if the police or DOT in your state will not provide it or simply don't care to obtain it. It may be the state you live in does not have a mandatory insurance law. If the letter and phone call don't work, you can then begin to ramp up the effort. Find out if the registered owner owns the house they live in. If they do, threaten them with a lien against the house. Doesn't matter if it is legal in your state or not. They don't have to know that and likely won't check. But knowing they can't sell the house until the lien is paid may be enough of a threat to cooperate. By all means take pictures and journal every step of the process. There is always the small claims court which has a limit which varies in each state and it does not cost a great deal to go that route. Don't give in on this. Ask for help if you need to.

I've been through this and know from experience that you can make a difference. It made a $3500 difference in my situation. Too long a story but in a nutshell, my persistence, pictures and other evidence resulted in a false claim of $3500 by a shyster being rejected by my insurance company.

 

[EricJRW]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

After reading all that one word came to mind: Fingerprints.

Maybe it's to late, but unless there are unknown fingerprints in the car, the nephew can't be eliminated. Maybe it's too much work to hold the right party responsible, but I sure hate to see someone get away with something.

Does having your car stolen relieve you of responsibility? What if it was taken without permission? Seems at some point the owner still needs to be responsible, just not sure what that point is.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

Unless they can easily ID the slimebag, or someone rats him out, then likely he/she will get away with this. Since it's a relatively low dollar amount, and nobody was hurt, I doubt the police have much incentive to do much "CSI" work on the car.
Most likely scenario is that the victim will have to eat the cost or recover what he can from his own insurance company. Sucks, but that's the way it goes sometimes.
Even if they do catch the idiot, I'd be more of the assumption that the guy hasn't got any money anyway, making a lawsuit a waste of time and money.
Most people who behave this way likely have an arrest record, and don't own anything of value, aren't working steadily, etc......

 

[soaringhiggy]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

Brewman;

Missing the point. Go after the car owner, let her go after her relative. She most likely knows who it was.

The owner of the car is liable as it was her car.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

Brewman;

Missing the point. Go after the car owner, let her go after her relative. She most likely knows who it was.

The owner of the car is liable as it was her car.

Not if she reported it stolen before the accident.

 

[soaringhiggy]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

True, but I will bet you bumpers for doughnuts that it was not, especially if it was a relative.

 

[Sikiguya]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

I agree, my insurance guy told me that when the boat is in the garage it is covered by my house insurance, when it is hooked to my truck it is covered by my car insurance adn when it is in the water the rider on my house insurance covers others, no insurance on the boat itself.

To clarify this statement. There is two part to insurance on a boat. First, there is the liability. This is what 5150's insurance guy is referring to. If it is being towed by the car, the car's liability covers for the boat smacking into things. If it is at the house, the house liability will cover for it. The second part is the boat itself. This is what I want to clarify. Your house policy does not cover your boat. For example, if your house burns down and your boat is in the garage, it is not covered. The only exception is if the boat is rather small and is covered under a provision in home policy. Your auto policy does not cover for the boat by towing it. You need to buy a policy covering specifically your boat. There may be exceptions...but most preferred carrier's policy is this way.

 

[HappierWet]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

This is a year old thread. However, I understand these things sometimes take awhile. I believe my course of action would be to pursue the owner of the vehicle unless there is a "record of stolen vehicle" before the accident.
Also, to the Op that .005 runout on the propshaft is enough to ruin bearings real quick. Most shafts run at a tenth of that.....0005 and remember that the aluminum is the weak point in the assembly.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

Was the car hot wired/ignition pulled? If not the owner should be held liable as she either gave the keys to her nephew or left them in the car making it possible for the car to be stolen.

 

[109jb]

Re: Car/boat wreck Hit and run

A couple things.

1. This post is one year old, so if fingerprints weren't taken at the time then it doesn't matter. Even if it was only a few days later, unless the car was in police custody the whole time there isn't a way to prove when fingerprints got in there.

2. Whether or not fingerprints are or aren't taken depends on the municipality. I had a guy try to steal a $50 car stereo out of a 15 year old car and the small rural poice department fingerprinted the car. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get fingerprints, but the guy got caught anyway and I identified him.

3. If the car is stolen it is stolen. It does not matter if reported before or after. If reported after it may look suspicious, but unless it can be proven that the report of it being stolen is false then it is stolen. The story in this case is that the car was stolen while the woman was working. If that is true she would not know until she went to her car after work.

4. Generally, a car owner is only liable if the use of the car was authorized by the owner. If the car is stolen its use was not authorized. Even if someone the owner knows borrowed the car without permission that is considered unauthorized use and the car owner is generally not liable for any damages caused.

4. In my opinion, the best way to approach was for the boat owner to let his insurance cover it and let them subrogate to the car owners insurance. The 2 insurance companies will fight it out. That is why I pay for insurance. Sounds like that's what he did a year ago and it worked the way it should have.