My first accident (hit and run)

[skip]

I had my first accident today. I'm almost certain it was my fault. I was turning left into a one way street. I thought that car was turning right (I thought that car has it's blinkers on, but I'm not sure). My friends say that because that car didn't turn into the lane closest, so it's their fault. But I'm not quite sure if that car was even turning. I don't remember all too much.

But nevertheless, immediately I pulled over and stopped to inspect the damage on my car. Then I realized I was obstructing traffic, so I pulled into the closest parking lot. When I got into the parking lot, I got out again and inspected the damage. I did that all in about 3-7 minutes. I then realized that the car that hit me wasn't anywhere near me. So I drove away. The thing is, I thought maybe that person pulled into another parking lot or something and was doing the same thing as me. But I didn't see that car, so I just drove away.

The only damaged that was on my car was that the car hit me directly on the tire, so only my tire was fucked up. So I put in the spare that was in my trunk and all is good. I told my parents I hit a pothole and yeah.......

I'm just concerned about the hitting and running business. Any advise/tips/whatever?

[Chavo]

A hit & run only matters if someone reports it.  Because the damage is most likely under $500 (in my state, might be different in yours), it falls under a minor claim and does not require that insurance companies are involved.  However, you probably should have called the cops and made a claim just because the other guy ran off and would therefore almost certainly get stuck with the liability.  My guess is he was probably uninsured (most hit & runs are, again.. in my state) and would still result in you paying for any damage without a license plate number of something that would obviously catch the other guy involved.

I'm no car expert, but you might want to make sure there is no alignment/axle/etc damage beyond the visually obvious tire damage.

I remember my first accident.  I was pretty freaked out, but the cop was cool about it and it turned out to not be that big of a deal.  That was a great relief for me, considering I back-ended an insurance agent with his wife and <1 year old baby in the backseat.

[skip]

Yeah, I took a look at it, but it seemed like there was nothing else damaged besides the tire. But I'm getting it replaced today, so I'll be sure to ask about that.

The thing is, I don't even know if s/he actually left the scene. Maybe they pulled into another parking lot just like me and I didn't see them. What if they called the police after I left and somehow managed to write my license plate down?