Dinged someones car door and drove away

No dent and a fleck of white paint. That’s not ‘damage.’ If there had been damage I would have left a note. But there was no damage.

Also, when the other driver parked over the line and into the space of an already occupied car space then they surely would have calculated that it would have been difficult to get the door open and been fine with risking some damage to their own car - the lines are there for a reason.

And as it was the friend who owns the car OP was in, she is the one responsible for her car, as I understand it. And she chose to drive away.

It's only a hit and run if there's damage caused and you don't leave a note or report it to the police.

Also, OP, if alone you could
Lean over from the other side to sort baby
Ask someone to hold baby for a moment..most people are not looking for any opportunities to sprint off with random child
Depending on age you could, for a few moments, lie baby on back seat or passenger footwell, or sit baby on the seat to back the car out. Not ideal.of course but there are other options

If I'd parked over the line I would know it was basically my fault. I agree with a pp that people are far too fussed about lumps of metal that move v v fast v v close to each other getting any sort of mark. Serious dents and scrapes sure, but the tiniest mark from a door resting (not being thrown open) on yours is not something to get upset about. No wonder there are so many people with stress and anxiety when every tiny interaction is a potential police matter 🙄

Yes, I did this. I swung into a car park space and judged it incorrectly as I was rushing. It felt like a crunch but on a black car in the dark I could see nothing. I left a note, took pics and told hotel receptionist and left details there too. I would have felt awful and worried if I hadn't. I got a lovely text the following day saying the car was fine and thanking me for leaving the note.

A tiny bit of paint...blimey that's normal run of the mill hazard of day to day owning a car isn't it? How many of you have accidentally touched your car door to the one next to you in a car park?
You get worse on the bonnet from stone impact causing chips.

I have a lovely car actually! Always have had. Presumptuous much?!

My passenger opened a door against the next car. There was no dent but there was a tiny dot of paint from my car. If they saw the supermarket CCTV they would know it was my car. I wrote a note and left it under their wiper. To not have done so is I think classed as a hit and run (UK). I haven't been contacted but my conscience was clear. The car concerned was immaculate! This happened a few weeks ago.

Yeah. Irrespective of the rights and wrongs, that mark will come off with a wet cloth.

Someone has just done that to me damaging my brand new car with a door 'ding' I'm livid I have reported to the police so that the CCTV can be checked. A simple note on my windscreen would have been appreciated but a hard luck I'll just drive off is unacceptable.

A stone chip does more damage, and no one gets those repaired.
If it was visibly dented then fair enough, details should have been left, but doesn't sound like it was and the other car owner probably won't notice and will have several other "dings" anyway.

I wouldn't have left details for this as it sounds like there was no damage.

But that's like saying that, because you would report somebody to the police if they came up to you and deliberately smashed you in the face, you should also report them if they accidentally jostled you in a bus queue.

That happened to me once - somebody had left a note (in an empty TicTac box!) under my wiper and gave their contact details, except there was no noticeable damage at all.

To be honest, it really freaked me out - I'd have much preferred that they left well enough alone and hadn't bothered.

Really?! What bits were falling off? Sounds very dramatic.

I think it's hard to comment without seeing a picture. I mean I've opened a door and touched someone's car but never looked to check because it was just a touch.

On the other hand I drove past my neighbours, car and there was a scraping sound. Checked later and I'd scraped paint off and my hub cap was covered in it. Left him a note...that was a £350 mistake but I did the right thing - we both agreed to just sort it between us and didn't get insurance involved.

You'd have climbed in the other side with the baby, put the baby in the car seat, then climbed in from the passenger side to get into the driving seat? Surely?

Most likely your "friend's" car will be caught by dashcam so if there is damage will go though insurance and be liable.

Exactly. The note is either a waste of time or inviting the other party to try and swindle you out of money by creating a fictitious claim.

You had no need to leave a note.

They were parked over the line so effectively parked in your space. You needed to get your baby into the car. They wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

Don't worry about, it accidents happen. A tiny dot of paint is not the end of the world.

We often have people posting on local FB pages looking for witnesses to car park carnage. We've had someone back into us while at a local event, too. Dinged the bumper & damaged the boot. All they care about is getting away so they don't have to pay to repair your car.

It's infinitely better at my local supermarket now. They installed car park cameras to combat youth crime targetting people loading groceries into their cars. A bonus as my car hasn't been carelessly dinged once since they've been installed.

I wouldn't expect someone to leave their details for a tiny speck of paint. To be honest I wouldn't even notice anyway.

Well that’s a bit different to the situation here… it’s a fleck of paint I.e no damage

Assume you drive a banger and don’t care.

I drive a nice car and would be upset if someone dinged me and drove off. I would deffo follow up on it if I had the info. I’m also a careful driver

you have zero standards.