The way I see it: When it comes to driving sins, side-swiping someone's parked car and motoring away like it never happened is among the most inexcusable evil urges on the road.

But according to a new poll, a lot of my fellow motorists give in.

If your parked car gets dinged by another driver in the Portland area -- and you're not there to see it -- there's only a little better than a 50-50 chance that you'll find a note with contact information under the windshield wiper, the Pemco Insurance survey of 401 people found.

Just 53 percent of the region's drivers who hit parked cars say they always leave contact information for the owner of the parked vehicle, the poll says.

The other 47 percent? They admitted to leaving the scene of a crash without leaving a note.

Yep. People. Are. The. Worst.

So, we can only assume that Washington drivers are even more dishonest, since, well, they're THE WORST drivers, right?



Wrong.

On the other side of the Columbia River, Washington drivers who hit parked cars "are significantly more likely to come clean," the poll found. About 67 percent of 609 Washington respondents reported that "they always leave their contact information if they're responsible for the damage, the poll revealed," according to the findings.

I can believe it. In Portland, my 1993 Volvo 240 wagon has been sideswiped twice in recent years. But I've never received a note – not even a fake note or a weird, frantic apology – from the responsible driver.

Someone driving a dark gray Subaru – I still have the grill ornament they left behind - slammed into the Volvo wagon, which was parked snugly against the street curb, dislodging the back bumper, knocking the muffler out of whack and leaving a big, nasty dent.

They left a mess to sweep up, but no note.

At the time, Portland police Officer David Ragland told me the city gets hit-and-run reports "all day long."

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