Hit while stopped, other driver refused to share insurance info — now I'm just stuck waiting?

Ugh, this happened to me almost exactly. The other driver refused to show me anything and acted like the cop showing up was somehow my fault. I ended up having to wait for the report too, but in the meantime I took photos of everything at the scene — her plates, the damage, the intersection — and that stuff ended up being really useful later. Did you at least get her plate number? That's your lifeline right now.

Please don't ignore the neck pain, even if it feels mild right now. Soft tissue injuries from rear-end collisions can feel manageable at first and then get significantly worse over the next few days. Go get checked out — urgent care or your primary care doc — and make sure it's documented. A medical record from shortly after the accident is important both for your health and for any claim you end up filing. Don't wait until it's unbearable.

Be really careful about opening a claim with your own insurance if you can avoid it. Even when you're 100% not at fault, some insurers find ways to make that bite you later. The adjusters are not your friends — their job is to protect the company's money, not yours. Keep records of every single conversation, get names and timestamps when you talk to anyone at the insurance company, and don't agree to anything in writing yet.

A couple of things that might help while you wait on the report: First, you can sometimes request an 'incident report number' from the responding officer's department even before the full report is finalized — that alone can help you at least open a claim file. Second, her license plate is actually enough for a personal injury attorney to run a records search and identify the registered owner and potentially their insurer. That's a pretty routine step in cases like this. Not saying you need to lawyer up immediately, just that waiting isn't your only option.

Not legal advice, but I'll say this: the situation you're describing — documented fault, physical symptoms, an uncooperative third party — is exactly the kind of thing where a quick free consultation with a PI attorney is worth your time. Many can help move the information-gathering process along faster than waiting on county records. Your neck pain also needs to be in the medical system sooner rather than later. Don't let the bureaucratic delay make you feel like nothing can happen.

I used to work on the claims side and I want to reassure you on one thing: the report delay is genuinely normal and adjusters deal with it constantly. What's NOT normal is sitting on your hands health-wise while you wait. Document your symptoms somewhere — even a daily note on your phone about how your neck feels. If this ends up in a claim, that kind of contemporaneous record is surprisingly useful. Also, once you do have the report, move quickly — don't let weeks pass before you contact their insurer.