Yesterday in at the Tesco car park in Lichfield...

I was slowly pulling out of a tight spot (going forward, and turning sharp left), and just at the end the turn, I believe I rubbed the back bumper of the parked car to my left. I paused for a second to consider what to do next -- and decided to put on emergency lights, get out the car, and find something on which to leave a note. The best I came up with was some tissue, and a sharpie -- and this clearly wasn't working (bleeding through and tearing). At this point, I looked at my watch, realised I needed to catch a train, and decided to actually look if I had caused any damage.

Several seconds of staring at the corner of the car, I thought -- "hey, i actually don't see any scratches" -- which was followed by, "I guess I can just go catch my train..."

So I got in the car, and drove away, without leaving a note, without taking pictures, and without noting the car or its number plate.

Whilst on the train, the ethical flaws in my previous "logic" began to expose themselves.

Even though *I* think it was only a little rub, and *I* think there was no damage -- I didn't go up close to the car and inspect thoroughly (in the dark, covered car park). Worse, I did not give the owner an opportunity to speak with me about his or her opinion on any effect to their vehicle.

At this point I realised the right thing to do, regardless, would have been to (A) wait around to explain what had happened or (B) properly leave a note with my contact details. At the very least, I should have gone up to the car properly to see if there are any marks.

Also, the more I thought about it, I am realising that my actions seem to be tantamount to leaving the scene of an accident. So I got off at the next station (my destination yesterday wasn't *that* important), and got the next train back (about an hour later?). I drove back to the Tesco's, but the other party's car was gone.

I then tried to decide if calling the police was the right thing to do -- the reason not to, being, that it's a waste of their time. I decided to take that chance, called in the non-emergency number, and the gentleman who took my call was very helpful, and took down all my details and my recollection of the incident, and gave me an incident number.

But now, at least -- what I really should have done -- was give the car's owner a chance to contact me.

Is there anything I can/should do to do right by the vehicle's owner?

Is there anything in the law I need to do to properly take responsibility for my actions, whilst not setting myself up for more than which I am at fault?

Thanks very much for any advice, and I certainly understand any and all criticism for my prior poor judgment.

Edited by George1968 on 11/07/2010 at 22:20