Okay...just the first time...but it can't get much more embarassing than this! What a dork!

I bought a Mazda3 hatchback yesterday. It has less than 100 miles on it today. On the way home this evening, I stopped at the park with my son and engaged the emergency brake in the parking lot. When we left, I drove about 2-3 miles down the road (wondering where my fun performance had gone...thinking, "Man, the "new-ness" yesterday must have made this car seem much faster!). After stopping at the stop sign, I noticed a burning rubber type smell and thought..."That goofball in front of me must have had a hard time stopping to make such an odor!" After completing the turn and still wondering why thequickness was gone,I looked down and realized what I had done. Boy, did I feel stupid! I quickly returned the hand-brake to it's full and downright, off position. I pulled into my garage and the smell was overwhelming coming from the rear wheels.

In my own defense, my vehicle for the past 6 years has been a F150 4X4 with the ebrake pedalbelow the steering wheel next to the driver door. I'm used to that one. I'm not used to a hand brake. And remember, I was LEAVING the park with my 3 year old son...I couldn't hear much over his screams..."Mommy, I don' wanna leave yet!" I was a bit distracted.

SO...My question now is...How much damage did I do!? I really hate that I abused this cute little car already! (again...used to a truck) Not sure what to do now...embarassed to ask someone face to face. Please help!

(Note: Only 1 joke allowed per person.)

 

No reason to be embarrassed. I think most everyone has done that at some point or another. I certainly have. Sounds like you did not have the parking brake on very hard or you would not have been moving very easily. The only real way to see what kind of damage has been done is to look at the rotors and make sure they are not a pretty blue color. Compare the appearance with the front rotorslooking thru the spokes of the wheel. If they look fairly similar then probably very little damage has been done.
The pads can also get burned and this will appear as a line of different color, compared to the rest of the brake pad,right next to the brake rotor.
And finally if the braking feel is same as before then should be ok. A cooked set of pads will provide very little help in stopping power so braking will feel considerably slower to come to a stop.

 

Comedian Mitch Hedberg, RIP Mitch,we miss you:

"I rent alot of cars, but I don't always know alot about them. So alot of times, I drive for like 10 miles with the emergency brake on. That doesn't say alot for me, but it really doesn't say alot about the emergency brake. It's really not an emergency brake, it's an emergency make the car smell funny lever."