I F$&*ing Give Up!, 2nd teener fender bender Options

[Brando]

Well, at least no fenders seem to be bent.

Yesterday on the way to work, I was at a Left-turn lane, light was green. Cross traffic to turn right onto the same street I was has a stop sign. There was one car ahead of me. A negligent driver did not yeild the right of way, cut off the woman in front of me (2002 mustang). Her car came to a stop immediately. Mine, did not. I plowed right under her rear valence. The woman in the 02 mustang pulls over, as do I. The woman who cut us off ran another stop sign and sped off.

First thing we did was contact the police. I got the fleeing woman's license plate number. We then exchange insurance info and I helped a man whose car was broken down get a triple-A tow home. The CHP officer eventually shows up (1 1/2 hours after calling them) to take statements and open an investigation. He says that it's pretty conclusive. People do this all the time; cause an accident and leave. It's called a "Non-Contact hit and run", meaning they did not obey traffic laws and even though they didn't hit anyone they caused two or more cars to collide. That's how the officer explained it to me.

I don't have Collision and Comprehensive coverage on my car, since it costs too much. The extent of the damage includes (isnt limited to):
-Front passenger's side turn signal lense is broke, bucket looks 'ok'.
-Front hood is scraped up pretty bad, red paint transfer appearant.
-Front shocks feel like they're no longer working.
-Fog lights are busted.

As for damage to the tub, behind the bumper shock mounts and everything hidden by the bumper I don't know. I'll see if I can get the car on a lift monday to check out the suspension and make sure nothing's broke.

I really dont know if I want to keep this car. It seems as though after I put time and effort into it, something else fails or this happens, like my first accident in January: a woman hit me in the side, hence the green door. Im thinking I should just park the teener in the garaged spot at my apartment and get another car. That way I can do one of my million 20-minute projects at a time and not worry about this happeneing so much. As much as I love this car I don't think I can recoupe from these damages for quite some time. I kind of want to just dump it but that'd be (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/screwy.gif), and I do want to make it complete.

My main concern now, is how can I extract the means to repair my car from this woman? I dont have C&C, and I don't want to get screwed. I'm not a mean person, and I'm not a bad person. But if this woman gets caught I'm contemplating finding a lawyer to persue whatever legal paths I can. Is this a good idea? I'm not greedy, I just want to get my car restored.