The Teen Driver Version of If A Tree Falls in the Woods…

Every driver starts off as a newbie, and there are incidents every day which are new to you.  Mistakes will be made; sometimes minor gaffs and other times major boo boos.  Irrespective of size, you will learn from them.  With any luck, when you’ve goofed, you’ll do so in private, with no one watching, laughing, sniggering or criticizing.  But, what if the goof was one of the “major boo boos,” say you banged hard into a car door while trying to pull into a tight parking space and put a great big dent right in the middle.  And no one saw.  What would you do?

Would you sit around and wait for the car’s owner?  Would you leave a note on the windshield?  Or would you back back out and drive off, thankful that no one saw?

Can you be certain that no one saw?  In this day and age, with electronic surveillance so prevalent, there’s a strong likelihood that someone did see.  And your leaving the scene of an accident – even one where no one was hurt – is, in most cases, an offense serious enough to warrant the revocation of your license.  And a fine.  And maybe even jail time.

If you hit a vehicle that is unattended or damage someone’s property (a wall or fence, light post, mailbox, etc.,) you must make a reasonable effort to locate and identify the owner of the property.  Before you do anything, do you have car insurance for teenagers? You should leave a note in which you provide your name and contact information, as well as your insurance details.  And you better have a darn good excuse for leaving the scene of an accident, because the police don’t like that at all, even if no one was hurt or killed.  You have a responsibility as a driver, and this is one of them:  Admitting that you goofed.