I'm so glad your DH was not harmed, and hope the other driver surfaces soon and gives you some info.

Odd that the other driver drove away fast. Sounds like the act of a guilty party. If I was struck from behind, I certainly would get out a d look at the damage and speak to the other driver. Good that you will know who that driver was. In your state, would the SUV driver have to pay for your damages if it were a hit and run?

I would suspect the other driver didn’tlook and ascertain the car behind was moving and hit your DH. Sounds even more guilty because they left the scene of the accident.

Many drivers are oblivious - some by general inattention, others by distraction (talking to a passenger or on the phone). If the driver had been backing up, they may not have felt the resistance (however slight it may have been) or thought their tire hit the curb.

I don't think Detective Colombo will take the case. Get your car fixed and you're back to normal. It's too bad to have the inconvenience but fortunately it sounds like the damage wasn't all that bad.

It does sound like the SUV FEELS guilty, but the cops will no doubt place responsibility evenly between you. That's how they do these things. I was taught if you hit a car behind it's passenger door you are at fault. The SUV leaving the scene won't bode well for them. Glad no one was hurt.

Depends. Does the shop have an exterior camera?

If they heard the collision inside the barber shop, the SUV driver heard it also. Why didn't he get out and look for damages? Guilt.

If the other driver hit your fender, then it sounds like it was his fault. He was backing up and should have made sure that he had space to do so. Your husband would not have hit the bumper on the car in front of him with his fender unless he has no depth perception.

You need to exchange insurance info and let the insurance companies figure it out, or just pay to have it fixed yourself and not involve the insurance, on the slight chance that the insurance company would think that it is your fault, which could affect your rates.

The other driver was at fault for sure.

A few years ago hubby and I were going to my car from the grocery store. The passenger side front fender was smashed. The woman stayed! She asked if we were the owners and she said she was backing up and her alarm didn't go off saying she was too close to our car. I don't believe that, she was probably on her phone or something, but she stayed, gave us her info and it got fixed.

When you are backing up, you do NOT have the right of way, at least not in Virginia.

This is interesting, in that, I was once a claims adjuster for an insurance company. I suspect the other driver is uninsured. Since both cars were moving... 50% - 50%.

Maybe the other driver didn't have a valid license or up-to-date insurance, and didn't want

a ticket or blame for that?

Sorry that you have to deal with the rigamarole of repairing the car. The police and insurance company will most likely sort this out. Could it be that both your car and the SUV were moving when they collided?

What/why was the SUV driver backing up into? A space two behind your DH?

Someone backed into your husband and left the scene of the accident. Period. Don’t believe me, prove me wrong. Get your car fixed and move on.

edit: I skimmed the OP too quickly and didn’t see the SUV driver might be known. Doesn’t really change what I said above; it’s still a matter of whose story is believed and leaving the scene doesn’t make one too believable.

Maybe the other guy had a warrant out for him. That's what happened to me when I was about 21, hit and run, the guy that hit me had 2 warrants out for his arrest.

My impression is that the driver of the SUV is the one who backed into your husband's car and is more at fault for the collision, but a couple other thoughts came to mind... (1) your husband was attempting to parallel park and as he was backing in, "he realized the space was too small. He started to pull out when...BANG!" but then (2) "DH backed into his space again to get out of the street and reached for paper and pen to exchange information with the other driver," -- so the space wasn't too small. (3) Your husband should have called the police to report the incident as soon as he went into the barbershop, rather than waiting to get home. The police could get ornery and say that your DH left the scene of the accident, too.

It’s not clear - was the driver of the SUV inside his vehicle when the collision occurred?

You said, after the collision, your DH pulled back in to park and reached for paper and pencil to exchange info. THEN the other driver pulled away fast. Could he/she jumped into the SUV while your DH was distracted?

A video camera on the barber shop/nearby building would help.

My very unofficial opinion: if the other driver was inside his/her SUV at the time of the collision, the fault is 50/50. If he/she was not, your DH is obviously 100% responsible. Them fleeing from the scene is a separate issue.

Related to what Elmer said - a few years ago I was in the grocery service desk line, behind a man who was leaving information about a hit/run accident he witnessed in the parking lot. He had a partial plate number, make, model, and color of the car. When I came out of the grocery I found the driver's side door smashed in - the car involved was mine! I called the sheriff, who came and took the report, including the descriptions and ID of the witness. I don't know if he bothered to look at the video from the store's parking lot camera. He never got back to me; eventually I found the report on the sheriff's website - no mention of any attempt to find the driver. They had enough info to do so, but I suspect they felt wasn't worth their time to try.

Most police departments are too busy with more important things than to investigate minor incidents of various kinds. And often don't do so as their SOP.

Online citizen-prepared police reports have become increasingly common. Unless there is ongoing violence or risk of same, serious personal injury, major loss or damage, or the like, police in many areas and for many circumstances will decline to appear onsite if called.

For car incidents, they'll ask if a road is obstructed and if people are injured. If not, they'll instruct the caller to make sure the cars pull out of the roadway and to be sure drivers involved exchange ID and insurance info and that's often it.

^Signs on the highways here say not to call the police for minor accidents, especially if no bodily injuries are in involved.

Maybe you could take this to People's Court and have Judge Marilyn Milian decide. She usually wants to see police reports for any accidents, however, but it sounds like it would be a good case for TV.

A friend of mine was asked to be on the Judge Judy show when he sued a contractor, but he refused, and I don't blame him because I can't stand Judge Judy - she's just mean.

"Judge Judy - she's just mean."

Totally agree. Rude and mean.

Things may have changed like they always do but my old insurance agent mentioned one time that if your car has been in an incident, accident/hit and run, of any type to do a walk-in report at the police station. His theory was if the other person claimed that you had insisted on not calling the police a walk-in report would contradict this. At that time if the accident happened on private property and there were no injuries the police would not show up unless someone called in a fight. Insurance companies always ask if there is an accident report so you would be covered.

His other piece of advice were to never state you leave your car unlocked.

"His theory was if the other person claimed that you had insisted on not calling the police a walk-in report would contradict this."

I'm not sure in what circumstance this would ever show up or matter. Insurance companies do things sometimes to support their positions should there be a subrogation *issing contest, which is how many of them turn out. I don't think an insurance company would dismiss what its own customer tells them.

"His other piece of advice were to never state you leave your car unlocked."

He suggested lying? Someone with that kind of attitude isn't anyone I'd want to do business with or get advice from. Maybe factor this questionable outlook into the first bit of advice, I'm not sure this guy was a knowledgeable source of information.

I appreciate all of your comments and advice. I wish I had something to report, but we haven't heard back from the police. We did call the station to ask for an update yesterday afternoon. Maybe they can't find the driver of the SUV. Our insurance company (State Farm) can't move forward until we have his name and his insurance information.

Who knew our little town was so dangerous! The barber shop is a few hundred feet from where DH was T-boned by a teen driver in 2012. Her father's insurance paid to have our car repaired, although they wanted to write it off because it's old. Ha-ha. We're still driving this 2005 Jaguar X Type with its 46K miles. It beats paying $50K for a new 'around town' car, and paying a lot to insure the thing.