Sixth-Grader Leaves Man a Viral Note After a Bus Driver Hit His Car

A Buffalo, New York, man said a sixth grader left a note on his car after it was hit by a school bus, according to reports. (Screenshot/AP)

A man from Buffalo, New York, said a sixth grader left a note on his car after it was hit by a school bus, according to reports.

Andrew Sipowicz, a senior at Canisius College, said he parked his car along Blaine Avenue in Buffalo and found that it had been damaged, ostensibly by another car.

“The front driver’s side was mashed in,” Sipowicz told WGRZ-TV. He then noticed there was a note on the car.

It started with “if [you’re] wondering what happen (sic) to your car...” and later said that “Bus 449” hit his vehicle. It was signed by a sixth grader who goes to a nearby school.

“Bus: 449 hit your car. It stops here every day to drop me off,” it reads, according to a photo published by the Buffalo News.

“What happened? He [the driver] was trying to pull off and hit the car. She hit and run. He tried to vear [sic] over and squeeze threw [sic] but couldn’t,” it adds. “She made a dent and I saw what happened,” the note continued.

The note also included a drawing of the school bus.

Sipowicz said he credits the note with helping him respond to the crash that left his Mustang damaged.

“My first thought was, thank God for the note because without the note I wouldn’t have any idea of what happened,” he told USA Today.

He used the information to contact the firm that operates the school bus, First Student. A supervisor responded, saying it will cover the cost of the repair via insurance.

Elena Cala, a spokeswoman for the Buffalo school district, told the Buffalo News that district officials won’t comment until an investigation is finished.

“We want all of our students to be upstanding citizens. The district views ’see something, say something' in order to protect another person or persons to be a superb character trait across the board,” Cala said.

Sipowicz said he’s not looking to press charges. “I really don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” he said, adding that he wants his car repaired.

Sipowicz, meanwhile, said he wanted to thank the child. “People should know about this,” he said.

“The teacher said immediately that they knew who the student was,” Sipowicz told WGRZ. “I have been in contact with that teacher this morning and we’re trying to set up something so I can go thank the student in person. I think it takes a special person to be able to do something like this…who felt like they had to do the right thing and I’m very grateful for that. ”

“I mean, it stinks what happened,” Sipowicz told the Buffalo News. “But I’m just extremely grateful for this kid telling the truth.”

He tweeted the note after friends urged him to. “A shout out to the anonymous sixth grader for saving me a couple thousand,” he wrote, and included pictures of his damaged car and the note.

“I thought it would get a hundred or maybe two hundred likes…within the first hour I think I was over a thousand,” Sipowicz told WGRZ.