hit and run license plate lookup
A hit and run is a crime that is committed by a driver who didn’t stop at the scene of an accident. The driver is supposed to stop at the scene and exchange information with the other parties, report the crash, and or render help to the injured.
Because of either other traffic violations or for any other unknown reasons, some drivers choose to flee the scene of an accident, only to complicate the matter.
Leaving the scene of an accident is highly punishable by law. This is because the driver that fled the scene puts the lives of the victims at stake. The victims could die of injuries, and the other driver stands a risk of never receiving compensation for his losses/injuries.
According to current data, close to 5-10% of the hit and run crimes are pursued and solved by police because the other driver fled the scene and so the victims have no clues of the hit-and-run drivers.
Yes, you could have been involved in an auto accident and you decided to leave the scene of an accident. What if the other driver is left with your license plate number? what if an eyewitness were able to note down your plate’s information?
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In short, To perform a hit and run license plate lookup, access law enforcement databases using the plate number, verify details, contact the owner, collaborate with other units, follow legal procedures, and document actions.
Several websites offer license plate lookup services in New York, including FAXVIN, VinCheck.info, New York State DMV, LookupAPlate, StateRecords.org, and InfoTracer.
But is that all? who is allowed to do a hit and run license plate look-up? what websites offer license plate look-up services? Are there laws that impose restrictions?
How will you or how will the victims use your license plates to know which car to pursue following the hit-and-run accident? Is there a license plate look-up that gives 100% accurate information? How do you perform a license plate look-up?
If my short answer above did not satisfy you, let’s now dive in and explore more. Ready? here we go!
Page Contents
How Do You Perform a license plate look-up?
You were involved in a hit and run accident and the other driver left the scene of an accident. By good chance, an eyewitness noted down the other car’s license plate number.
How do you proceed to use the license plate numbers to locate the hit and run driver?
Before I go further, I need to tell you that there are many websites that offer license plate look-up services. You just plug in the plate number and the system gives the information in 1-3 seconds. Wanna know the websites? read on!
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But for us here in the US, accessing such information is restricted by law. You must use license plate look-up services only if you have an important reason to do it.
If you are a hit and run victim here in the US, you must report the accident to the police and hand over the license plate information. Police will go ahead and do a license plate look-up on your behalf.
Here are some steps you can take to perform a license plate lookup for a hit-and-run incident:
1. Choose a reputable license plate lookup service. Many websites offer this service free of charge. Websites that provide license plate lookup services include FAXVIN, VinCheck.info, Vehicle History, FindbyPlate.com, LookupAPlate.com, and Recordsfinder.com.
2. Enter the license plate number. After you have chosen your preferred website, plug in the license plate information/ number of the vehicle that was involved in the crash.
3. Review the results. A license plate lookup will provide you with valuable information about the vehicle and the owner. You will be able to obtain information like the owner’s name, address, contact, and vehicle history.
What happens to hit and run drivers who are later found by their license plate NY?
Once you are done running the license plates in the look-up platform, I am sure you will end up with all the information you need to pursue the hit-and-run driver.
In New York, the driver that is later found by their license plates will be investigated by the police for the crime at the table. Once he/she is found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident, he/she will face legal consequences.
Depending on the outcome of the accident, punishments for hit and run include prison time (jail time), fines, suspension/revocation of your driver’s rights, and or probation.
The driver that is found by his/her driver’s license will face a hit and run felony if the accident involved deaths or injuries. On the other hand charges of a hit-and-run misdemeanor will be pressed against you if the accident involved property damages only.
In short, “Hit-and-run drivers in New York who are found by their license plate can face penalties such as fines, probation, license suspension, and imprisonment if convicted,” remarks Rosenbaum, a car accident attorney in New York.
Can you look up license plates in USA?
Here in the united states, license plate look-up information is technically public. However, it’s illegal to look-up someone’s information without a valid reason.
The Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) restricts access and use of someone’s license plate information for your own purposes. You must have a permissible purpose to look up someone’s information.
One or 2 reasons for obtaining someone else’s license plate information is to trace the car that left the scene of an accident, and find out who owns the very car.
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To sum it up, “License plate information in the USA is technically public, but it is illegal to look up a license plate without a valid reason,” remarks Andrew G. Meier, a senior trial attorney in New York.
How do I find the owner of a license plate in Illinois?
To find the owner of the plates in Illinois, visit websites that offer the services in Illinois. Here are some options:
1.VinCheck.info. This platform offers license plate look-up for free. You will get information like past ownership, title information, liens, odometer readings, and salvage records.
2.StateRecords.org. This site allows anyone in Illinois to do an independent vehicle look-up in Illinois. You will find the owner of a license plate and the current vehicle linked to it.
3.LookupAPlate. This site provides a platform for car look up in Illinois and across the USA. It will give you information about the vehicle’s make.
4. FAXVIN. This offers free plates lookup specifically for Illinois but can be used by other states too. You will get detailed specifications about the past of a used car, motorcycle, or truck.
Finally, according to Attorney Erica Martini, “To find the owner of a license plate in Illinois, you must have a legitimate reason and can contact the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office for assistance. Privacy laws protect owner information”.
Can you look up a PA license plate?
Just like in Illinois, yes, you can do a license plate look-up in Pennsylvania. There are in fact several websites that offer free and paid services, and I encourage you to do a simple google search.
In addition to the websites that I already mentioned for Illinois, you could also try sites like DMV.pa.gov, and FindByPlate.
I also need to tell you that, Pennsylvania police can pull over drivers if any part of their license plate is obscured. Drivers can request personalized registration plates. Illegible plates can be verified at an inspection station.
how to report a hit and run with license plate?
How to report a hit and run with license plates varies from state to state, of country from the country for those of you outside the States.
To report a hit and run with a license plate, follow these general steps:
1. Gather information. Yes, you already have the plates of the vehicle whose driver left the scene of an accident. Is this all? well, it depends!
In addition to the license plates, I recommend you gather other information about the crash. Information like the vehicle model, color, make, direction of travel, and things about the driver will help a lot.
2. Contact the police. In some states, accessing plate look-up systems is a bit restricted by law. The best thing to do is to hand over the plates to the police.
You must also complete a car accident police report. Make sure you cooperate with the police by providing any information you have. Police will use any information you provided to track the driver and investigate the hit and run.
3. Contact your insurance company. Yes, contact your insurance company as soon as possible after the accident. Provide them with the license plates along with any information you have.
4. Document the incident. Take pictures of the scene including injuries and damages. Take witness statements and hand over all these to the investigating officers.
To sum it up, To report a hit and run with a license plate, contact the police, provide the license plate number, gather information, cooperate with the police, and notify your insurance company.
what happens to hit and run drivers who are later found by their license plate?
Though the punishments for leaving the scene of an accident vary by severity from state to state, the driver that is found guilty of a hit-and-run risks facing severe consequences.
If a hit and run license plate look-up revealed your connections with a recent hit-and-run, police will kick in to further investigate you.
Police will not jump right to making arrests when they are not yet sure you have a case to answer. Probably your car had been stolen, or someone else was driving it and got involved in the accident.
I already told you in my previous articles that the owner car has no case to answer if someone else stole his/her car and gotten involved in a hit and run accident.
However, if another person without the owner’s permission was driving the car, then the owner of the car could be sued in a civil lawsuit and pay some of the damages. The plaintiff could argue that you were wronged by lending out your car to a negligent person.
“Hit-and-run drivers found by their license plate may face fines, probation, community service, license suspension, imprisonment, but finding them can take time or they may never be found,” remarks Craig D. Rosenbaum, a car accident attorney.
How to figure out who owns a car by license plate?
There are many ways investigators can figure out who owns the car by license plates. To figure out who owns a car by license plate, you have a few options:
1. License Plate Lookup Services: I already explained that performing a license plate look up will reveal the owner of the car, the history of the car, and other valuable pieces of information.
2. Government Records. In states like Florida, its very easy to look up the owner of the car. You can use vehicle look-up services or Vehicle Identification Number services (VIN).
Simply visit the official website of your state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
3. Public Records Search. Do wanna know who owns a certain vehicle? well, go try public records search. Before doing this, you will need to first contact your local law enforcement offices or your local government office.
4. Private Investigator. There are instances where license plates were issued locally. Going after license plate look-up may not help here. Go hire a private investigator to track down the owner of the car.
Conclusion.
It’s estimated that more than 90% of hit-and-run accidents are not solved. This is the very reason you will need to hire a car accident attorney and other private investigators to track down the hit-and-run driver.
Other than using a hit-and-run license plate look-up to track down the hit-and-run car, you could also try other means like hiring private investigators, searching in public records, go look up in government records, and many others.
I must remind you that using vehicle look-up services here in the USA is prohibited by law. You must have a valid reason for performing one, and it’s against the law to use the obtained vehicle information for your own personal things.
SOURCE:
- (July 2, 2022). I Got a License Plate Number from Hit and Run – Now What? insurancepanda. https://www.insurancepanda.com/4518/license-plate-number-from-hit-and-run/
- Free License Plate Lookup. vincheck. https://vincheck.info/free-license-plate-lookup
- Free License Plate Lookup | Search Any US License Plate. vincheck. https://vincheck.info/free-license-plate-lookup