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car park collision
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[Deleted User]
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yesterday as i parked my car in asda car park, a car tried to park right next to me in a rush, my rear passenger opened the door (seeing no car) which scratched his rear quarter wing as he was reversing. Who s fault is that? Is it 50/50? Thank you for all the advise I can possibly get
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On the other hand, if the car was nearly into the space, it would be the fault of the passenger for not checking.
Any position between those two fault would be arguable.
What do you mean by "seeing no car"? It wasn't there, or they didn't look?
Having said that, my one and only driving offence back in 1974 was opening my door without looking as carefully as I should have. Because it happened across the road from a police station, the other driver was furious enough to get a copper out, who had to charge me under Constriction & Use Regs. I was fined £5 and got an endorsement.
I'm not so sure. I think that its a bit fuzzy when one of the vehicles is stationery at the time of collision. If it was the passenger of the vehicle that was stationery, even more complex.
Traditionally, the moving vehicle is responsible for any collision with a stationery one.
Personally, I'd say 50/50 but its a grey area.
True - the rules of origami are quite clear on this point. ;-)
The onus is on YOU, the car driver to ensure all your passengers can alight safely and without hindrance to other road users or pedestrians.
It's as simple as that.
It would be the same as your rear passenger opening their door into the path of a cyclist. 100% your fault.
I'm on my smartphone, it auto corrected in error. Am normally so careful with that word too.
used to pass a shop on the way to work that had a sign stating it sold Stationary...it always annoyed me.
Wrong! Stationary vehicles are rarely at fault in any collision with a moving one.
It happened to a colleague of mine several years ago.
He was parked, his passenger in the offside rear opened the door fully, into the path of a moving vehicle. It ripped his door off, damaged the moving vehicle, the driver (my colleague) was sued for the damage. The 3rd party won, hands down.
Except when you open a door which hits another vehicle.
100% your fault from what I understand.
both scenarios are perfectly plausible.
I guess. If the driver of the reversing car was doing a very well controlled backward handbrake donut.....
or, less dramatically, they position themselves to reverse into a space and do so at a speed that doesn't give them time to thoroughly check for obstructions or potential hazards.
it really isn't that difficult to see that possibility.
And if the other car hadn't been reversing, or neither cars had been there, or the supermarket wasn't there...it wouldn't have happened.
If a car door is obstructing ie already there and you don't see it, you are not absolved. The moving vehicle has a duty.
However if the moving car drove into the already opened car door then it is the fault of the moving car, as then they are the ones who were not looking.
In this case it sounds like the first scenario is what happened.
No, YOU are wrong! My friend was found to be the one at fault when she had parked up and opened her car door on a cyclist who smashed into the door (and this was in England so am not talking Scots law just in case you are wondering).
A quick google tells you that the stationary driver is at fault too in this scenario.
To answer the OPS question, assuming the passenger was an adult the responsibility for the damage is likely to be down to your passenger, due to them opening the car door without checking that it was safe to do so. You will need to decide if you wish to ask your insurer to cover them (if you have a comprehensive policy it will) or leave them to compensate the owner of the other vehicle themselves. If the passenger was a child the responsibility is likely to fall to the driver of the vehicle.
I'm no 'legal eagle', but that would be my take on it too, i.e. didn't look.
When I was a black cab driver it was "almost" always happening.
I'd stop at the fare's destination, and they'd never bother to look, they'd just reach for the door handle.
Fortunately, it's impossible to open the doors on a black cab while the footbrake is being applied.
I'd always raise my voice and say, "WAIT." then release the brake when it was safe to open the door, or I'd say, "Can you get out kerbside please?"
Mind you, they'd rarely look if they were getting out kerbside either, just open the door causing pedestrians to step aside to avoid being struck.
There is no such thing as50/50 liability what are are you suggesting someone parked badly or someone opened the door without looking