<p>Hi,
I am a sixteen year old girl and I just got my license last week. Where I live, you must hold a learners for 2 years before a license so I am not a brand new driver and passed my road test with ease and am generally a good driver. I don’t speed, I’m not too aggressive and I am never on my cell phone while driving. Today, I was about to drive home from running an errand for my mom. I backed out of my parking space slowly, and turned the way I wanted to go. I began to drive forward but I did not have a lot of room between my front right bumper and the car two stalls away from my spot’s rear right bumper. I hit a patch of ice and a rut (the roads are really bad where I live in the winter) and bumped gently into that same car I did not have a lot of room from. I quickly looked behind me and reversed and looked to see any damage. I could not see any immediate or serious damage and panicked, and drove away. I do not think any cars saw me. I intended on going home to get paper to write a note on, to leave contact info, but once I was home I called my friend freaking out and she told me not to. My bumper is scratched, even though I didn’t see any damage to theirs. Could I have been mistaken when I checked? What should I do? I’m so scared, a) that maybe someone did see me and will report my license number, and b) my parents will see the damage on my car. I am very responsible and don’t want to lose the freedom that came with getting my license, but I feel sick to my stomach. If any parents would like to reply and say what they would do if their child did this, that would help. </p>
<p>I think you need to talk to your parents. They are mainly concerned with your safety behind the wheel. They may impose some kind of consequence, but that is part of life and growing up.</p>
<p>When I was your age, I backed my Dad’s car into a telephone pole. I saw no damage, so I didn’t see the point in mentioning it. A day or two later, my Dad asked me, “Did you back into a telephone pole?” I replied, “Uh…why do you ask?” He said, “Well, either you backed into a telephone pole or you got hit from behind by a covered wagon…there are wood shards embedded into the tail light.” </p>
<p>Oops…I had to pay for the new tail light cover. I wish I could say it never happened again, but I did it a couple more times as an adult until I finally got a car with one of the back up cameras and sound alarms.</p>
<p>It’s not the end of the world. You’ll get through this.</p>
<p>You aren’t the first to do something like this… one of my kids ripped a fire extinguisher box off a pillar in the library parking garage (while going FORWARD…). She panicked and drove home. I made her call the library to explain. Apparently it has happened before, and that box keeps getting more and more dinged up. Recently I sent her a picture of it when I parked near it. 
However… I did give her a lecture about stopping and doing SOMETHING when she causes damage or thinks she might have with her car. She should have parked again and gone back in to the library. You should have left a note on that car. Next time both of you will know better, I think.</p>
<p>Tell your parents asap what happened. Even when you think no one saw you hit car, assume someone probably did or the incident was recorded on a video camera in parking lot…cameras are everywhere now. Just like picking your nose stopped at a traffic light, you think no one sees you…but when you do a friend will probably be in car next to you at light getting grossed out.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reassurance, I think I may talk to them, since it was so minor and I would rather be honest and get my car taken away for a while than have them notice on their own and be angry that I kept it from them. Thanks for the story, good to hear you got one of those cameras haha. </p>
<p>Yes, I will definitely wait and leave contact info, or not make the mistake in the first place, next time. Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>Parents are relieved when their kids display honesty and character. Driving is a huge responsibilty and how incidents are handled has a lot to do with how your parents will assess your maturity. Glad you are talking to them. </p>
<p>On the one hand, it’s terrible to put a mark on a car - especially the first mark on a car, on the other hand, that’s what bumpers are for! Also you can get some super fine sandpaper (800 grit or higher), dip it in water, and polish off those marks. </p>
<p>You can also get the exact color of your car’s paint as a can of spray paint or a little bottle, and do touchups yourself. On the inside of the driver’s door is a number that is the code for the paint color. There are also web sites that sell the paint that will help you find the exact color. </p>
<p>Do that, and do a totally OCD cleaning of the car and your parents will forgive you. Offer to take the car in for a regular service check and they will be really impressed!</p>
<p>Another new poster. Hm…</p>
<p>Minors can’t buy spray paint in my town because stores won’t sell it to them…graffiti and sniffing it. Your dad will never notice if you sandpaper corner panel of car and use a can of spray paint to fix things up…not!</p>
<p>A couple weeks after I first got my driver’s license I was in a Wal Mart parking lot with my friend trying to park. Completely could not make it in without hitting the car in the spot beside the spot I was trying to get into, and yet I kept going anyway. I hit the car and instead of stopping, I just kept going, grinding bumpers with that car until I actually got into the lane and then I just left and parked in another spot in a panic. LOL, was it a mess. Left a pretty noticeable dent in the other car, a tiny old sedan, but my truck was without a scratch. Why I kept going instead of stopping and reversing, I don’t know! But I am thinking it was some form of denial. I freaked out a little but it was a WalMart parking lot and the car was crappy anyway. My friend told me that they probably wouldn’t even notice. We went into the store and when we came out the car I had hit was gone.
Anyway, that was a pretty long while ago, and I’m alive and well now. Don’t worry about it. Most people who see it happen don’t report those kind of things because most people tend to keep to themselves in these kind of situations, unless they are the very rare exceptions to social psych phenomena. If your parents ask about the mark on your car, say you just found it like that after leaving your car parked somewhere. Or just tell the truth I guess. I never told my parents about it but I don’t tell them a lot of things (hah). Dont worry about it.</p>
<p>Lying to your parents is a very bad idea, and I would suggest that you not listen to anyone here who is giving that advice. Being involved in a hit and run, even with little damage, is not a good thing. People, generally, are not good at estimating damage to vehicles. It’s possible that there was damage to the other car, and now that person is going to be responsible for damage that you caused. Being involved in a crash as a new driver isn’t the end of the world, but lying about a hit and run is a big deal and you should do what’s necessary, and possible, to rectify that situation.</p>
<p>I figured there’d be video of the parking lot accident. Keep practicing your driving and you’ll get better.</p>
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