My husband and I, who are retirees, were in our car on Nov. 13 in Kapahulu, when it was hit from the rear by another car. The driver insisted he had to go pick up his wife and couldn't stay until a police officer arrived, so he gave us his drivers license and insurance card. Driver was within rights
to leave accident sceneHe never returned. We later found out that he had canceled his insurance in September. The estimate for repairs is $2,000. Our insurance company said they won't pay for it because we don't have collision coverage. But what upsets us even more is that we tried to follow up with HPD several times and got nowhere.
A week later, on Nov. 18, we were told that no investigation would take place until Dec. 1 because the only officer assigned to investigating collisions is on vacation until then.
In the meantime, this man is driving around without his drivers license and without insurance. I know to the police department this is nothing, but we're worried this man may get involved in another accident, and other law-abiding people, like us, will end up the victims.
Unfortunately, the problem of uninsured drivers in a no-fault insurance state is an issue that continues to be debated. But from the police point of view, here's what Maj. Gary Dias, head of the Traffic Division, has to say about your experience.
Number one, he said, you were given the wrong information by a clerk, "who was not aware of operations." There are 18 officers assigned to investigating traffic cases, and only one was on vacation when you called. You should have insisted on speaking to a supervisor if you were not satisfied with the answers you were receiving, Dias said.
Your big mistake, Dias said, was allowing the driver to drive away. If you insisted that he stayed until an officer arrived, but he still drove away, "We can (then) investigate it as another traffic offense (leaving the scene of an accident)," Dias said.
"But all indications, including the officer's report, was that (you) made this agreement" to handle the matter between yourselves and "he did his part by exchanging information" with you.
Because this was considered a "minor accident," one in which there were no injuries or fatalities, the law allowed him to do that, Dias said. In police eyes, "he did not flee the scene."
However, based on the information you provided, police will follow up, especially on the matter of insurance. If it's true that he doesn't have insurance, "we will cite," he said. The reality, however, is that "we have people who are violating the law by driving around without insurance cards," Dias said.
There are people who will buy insurance to buy a car, then cancel the insurance. But they still have a card "that looks valid," Dias said. "It's hard for anyone, including police, at a motor vehicle collision to (know) that card is not valid."
Dias said he's sorry you feel nothing is being done. "That's not so. We will be following up on this, and when we find the person, we will cite him for having expired insurance" if that, indeed, is the case.
Auwe
To whoever took my wallet, which I left in a delicatessen on Gulick Street on Oct. 31. Why couldn't you have just taken the money and dropped the wallet in any mailbox? The contents are not of use to anyone, but are a big hassle to replace.
To an honest person and the friendly people at Windward City Longs. My father left a package in a shopping cart in the parking lot and someone was kind enough to turn it in to the Longs manager.-- L.S. Mahalo
