Yesterday, I made the bold claim that there was no group of people better at identifying broken car bits than Jalopnik readers. Many didn’t believe me. The American Dental Association issued a statement calling me a “dipshit.” Well, we showed them all, because a Jalopnik reader ID’d a broken piece of plastic that will help solve a crime.
The broken bit of plastic is from a headlight lens, and that headlight was connected to a car that almost killed a cyclist in Bellevue, WA, and then fled the scene. In order to find the hit-and-run driver, police needed to know what kind of car was being driven. All they had to go on was a bit of clear headlight lens.
Well, a bit of clear plastic was all Jalop Bengal55 needed, because his eagle-eyes and rich automotive knowledge let him ID the part as coming from a 2013-2015 Honda Accord.
The Bellvue police were quick to acknowledge that Bengal55 got a match:
Now, they haven’t yet caught the almost-manslaughter-er, and yes, there’s tons of Accords out there, but one of our dedicated car geeks absolutely provided some crucial information that hopefully will bring this cowardly hit-and-runner to justice.
As our way of saying thanks, have a picture of the most heroic of Hondas, the Honda Z600:
Good work!