machetegirlie
New Member
Hi everyone,
When I was 16 years old, I was backing up--very very very very slowly--out of the driveway of an acquaintance's house and onto a narrow road in Arizona. Because I knew that the road was very narrow and that a car was parked alongside the road directly behind me, I made sure to back up very slowly in order to avoid hitting the parked car. In spite of these efforts, however, my auto still managed to make contact with the parked car behind me. After my friend and I got out of my car and inspected the car I had made contact with, we saw no damages done either to my auto or the auto I had made contact with. Although I still wanted to leave information anyway in case any damages had been incurred that we had overlooked, my friend insisted that because there were no visible damages, leaving information was not necessary and that if I did leave information, the owners of the car could intentionally damage their car and blame it on me just to win a big insurance claim. So, after repeatedly knocking on the door of the house and waiting until around 11 p.m. (midnight is curfew for minors in Arizona), we ended up leaving the scene without leaving information.
This incident was four years ago, and to this day I still wonder if what I did was illegal (constituted a hit-and-run) and if I should track down this house again and leave the owners of the car my information. And, if I did track the owners of this car down and do this, would it still be considered a hit and run? Is it a hit-and-run if no damages occurred? And, how would I go about fixing this wrong legally if it is possible?
I have been in other car accidents since then (including with an unattended vehicle), and in all of my subsequent accidents I've left my information except in an accident where the driver hit me and refused to stop (other driver's fault).
Thank you for any advice!
Machetegirlie
When I was 16 years old, I was backing up--very very very very slowly--out of the driveway of an acquaintance's house and onto a narrow road in Arizona. Because I knew that the road was very narrow and that a car was parked alongside the road directly behind me, I made sure to back up very slowly in order to avoid hitting the parked car. In spite of these efforts, however, my auto still managed to make contact with the parked car behind me. After my friend and I got out of my car and inspected the car I had made contact with, we saw no damages done either to my auto or the auto I had made contact with. Although I still wanted to leave information anyway in case any damages had been incurred that we had overlooked, my friend insisted that because there were no visible damages, leaving information was not necessary and that if I did leave information, the owners of the car could intentionally damage their car and blame it on me just to win a big insurance claim. So, after repeatedly knocking on the door of the house and waiting until around 11 p.m. (midnight is curfew for minors in Arizona), we ended up leaving the scene without leaving information.
This incident was four years ago, and to this day I still wonder if what I did was illegal (constituted a hit-and-run) and if I should track down this house again and leave the owners of the car my information. And, if I did track the owners of this car down and do this, would it still be considered a hit and run? Is it a hit-and-run if no damages occurred? And, how would I go about fixing this wrong legally if it is possible?
I have been in other car accidents since then (including with an unattended vehicle), and in all of my subsequent accidents I've left my information except in an accident where the driver hit me and refused to stop (other driver's fault).
Thank you for any advice!
Machetegirlie
