My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Colorado. Actually, there was no ticket.
I was a victim of a hit and run. The other driver hit my car in a store parking lot. There were no injuries and his car was undamaged. He got out, gave me his first name only, no other info, when I asked for more info he plainly said "No" and drove away while I was trying to call the police.
When he left the scene he successfully prevented any investigation into his own sobriety (which I question) and the accident itself. My insurance company used his license plate to locate him... but the police apologetically informed me that the D.A.'s office will not take the case, even though he obviously broke the law, because they won't take a case where the perpetrator was located later and determined to be insured and licensed. His insurance company refused to pay because he lied about the accident. The police report finding him at fault didn't help because there was no investigation, it's just a reiteration of my statement, and because he wasn't ticketed. My insurance company won't take the fight any further with his insurance company because after my deductible they only paid out about $600 or so and it's not worth it to spend more than that on the fight.
So it seems like the system is set up so that if you are a licensed and insured driver and you hit a vehicle, absolutely, drive off. You can only help your own situation by doing so. Hopefully there's no proof (witnesses, video) that you are at fault. If you're drunk, you'll get away with that too. When they catch up with you, just lie to your insurance company. Even if you are found at fault, you won't be ticketed for the hit and run, so your best chance is to hinder the investigation by driving away.
My question is, are there other states where there are laws in place to prevent this? For example, a requirement that insurance companies use a hit and run as evidence of liability even if there was no ticket issued. To answer the obvious, I am not interested in taking him to small claims court where I might find the same result: that I can't prove he was at fault. Rather than go through all that I wish he were penalized for leaving the scene which is so much easier to prove. If other states penalize hit and runs better than CO, I might contact a state legislator about changes.

