Traffic Accident Question

[asta]

I think that I already know the answer but I thought I would get a few opinions while waiting to hear from our insurance agent. My 19 year old backed into another car and I think that the answer is that it is always your fault if you do the hitting. The situation is a little different. She was parked in an angled parking space on a one way street. The street has two lanes and someone parked a car in the middle of the two lanes and had left the car. She doesn't know when the car parked there but didn't see it when she started backing. It probably doesn't matter but the driver of the other car had parked there to go into a bar and came out drinking a beer. The point is the driver wasn't stopped to unload a car, they just needed/wanted a drink. No parking space was available so they just parked in the middle of the street.

I think my daughter will be charged with improper backing. Should it matter that the other car parked illegally? And more importantly, what will this do to our insurance rate?

 

[FireDancer]

Someone parked their car in the middle of the street to go into a bar and get a drink which they were going to drink once they got back into their car? Yeah, I find that hard to believe.

Regardless, if a car was stopped anywhere for any reason someone backing out should see it even in this odd scenario. I always check to see if a car is somewhere even if one shouldn't be there before backing up. I think she'll be found at fault. I have no idea what it will do to your rates.

 

[Jestocost]

I guess it would depend if the state in question has single liability or if liability can be divided among multiple parties.

 

[dngnb8]

If there is a question of fault, the carriers investigate and if they feel your child wasnt at fault, they will attempt to subrogate *sp*

This is the process where they will go after the other carrier to pay the claim

 

[MELISAZACK]

well i do this for a living - so first question is did she call the police and did they come out and see if the other car was pakred illegally and did they give a citiation as well. Witness that are willing to give statment that other car
was parked illegally? might help her if no cop involved.
if no cops and no citiation no witness - most likely she will be responsible in the end.
No the drinking the beer will play no part unfort.

yes there is a possiblity of comp neg where both parties have a fault but it is likely they will find more on your child then the illegally parked car.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

There could be split liability (depends on the state), but there is also a part about insurance of last resort in terms of avoiding an accident, your child had the last resort in ability to avoid the accident as the vehicle was parked and not in motion.

 

[asta]

Someone parked their car in the middle of the street to go into a bar and get a drink which they were going to drink once they got back into their car? Yeah, I find that hard to believe.

Regardless, if a car was stopped anywhere for any reason someone backing out should see it even in this odd scenario. I always check to see if a car is somewhere even if one shouldn't be there before backing up. I think she'll be found at fault. I have no idea what it will do to your rates.

The situation may be hard to believe but it is a college town with a lot of bars and a lot of drinking. My daughter was amazed that the other driver came out of the bar still holding her beer. I think that the other driver could also be charged with an open container violation and illegal parking. But your right, I don't know how my daughter missed seeing the car. It had to do with seeing around the car in the next space and just not expecting a car to be parked in the middle of the street. It is hard to explain but she was parked on the left hand side of the one way street in an angled space. I think that obstructs your view more because the driver is located closer to the car on the side that your backing toward.

 

[MELISAZACK]

also the person "backing" always has the GREATER duty.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I think that I already know the answer but I thought I would get a few opinions while waiting to hear from our insurance agent. My 19 year old backed into another car and I think that the answer is that it is always your fault if you do the hitting. The situation is a little different. She was parked in an angled parking space on a one way street. The street has two lanes and someone parked a car in the middle of the two lanes and had left the car. She doesn't know when the car parked there but didn't see it when she started backing. It probably doesn't matter but the driver of the other car had parked there to go into a bar and came out drinking a beer. The point is the driver wasn't stopped to unload a car, they just needed/wanted a drink. No parking space was available so they just parked in the middle of the street.

I think my daughter will be charged with improper backing. Should it matter that the other car parked illegally? And more importantly, what will this do to our insurance rate?

No it won't matter. As the driver the burden is on you to make sure you are clear to proceed.

 

[asta]

well i do this for a living - so first question is did she call the police and did they come out and see if the other car was pakred illegally and did they give a citiation as well. Witness that are willing to give statment that other car
was parked illegally? might help her if no cop involved.
if no cops and no citiation no witness - most likely she will be responsible in the end.
No the drinking the beer will play no part unfort.

yes there is a possiblity of comp neg where both parties have a fault but it is likely they will find more on your child then the illegally parked car.

She did call the police. The police are always present on this street anyway. They have their hands full policing the underage drinking and public intoxication in this college town. The police were there when the other driver came out holding her beer.

According to the police website I think we have to wait three days to see the accident report. I just wonder if there is a sliding rate used in increasing your auto insurance.

 

[mjkacmom]

We live on a very narrow street (only one car can pass at a time), and a visitor of the neighbor across the street parked his car directly across from our driveway, in such a manner, that our vehicles wouldn't be able to get out of our driveway. Unfortunately, DH missed seeing this car, hit it, and he was responsible.

ETA, we paid for the damage out of pocket. DH's car was recently backed into, and they asked if they could pay OOP, and we agreed. I've paid someone OOP when scraping their vehicle. It's very common here to ask, because it's MUCH cheaper than the new premium is going to be.

 

[kamik86]

the other driver would probably get a fine but your daughter should be responsible for the accident. Think of it this way if this car was in the street what would have stopped your daughter from hitting a car in the street that was driving down and just happened to get to that spot right then? Or someone crossing the street. Or some drunk student just standing there being stupid.

If we were talking a blind corner that your daughter went around at normal speed and a car was just parked there I might see your point but backing out of a parking space she needs to watch where she is going better.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

We live on a very narrow street (only one car can pass at a time), and a visitor of the neighbor across the street parked his car directly across from our driveway, in such a manner, that our vehicles wouldn't be able to get out of our driveway. Unfortunately, DH missed seeing this car, hit it, and he was responsible.

ETA, we paid for the damage out of pocket. DH's car was recently backed into, and they asked if they could pay OOP, and we agreed. I've paid someone OOP when scraping their vehicle. It's very common here to ask, because it's MUCH cheaper than the new premium is going to be.

For me, I would never accept any OOP repair option with a person who hit my car, too much can go wrong, promises broken, more damage, questions on how much a part cost, etc. It's best to leave claims to insurance companies.

 

[minkydog]

a couple years ago DH was involved in a backing up accident at the grocery store. Both he and another driver opposite him backed up at the same time and--crunch! It broke the tail light on our minivan, but it crushed the rear end of the other guy's vehicle, a brand new Porche. The other guy was crying so hard he could hardly even give the police his info. DH actually felt sorry for him. Both drivers were considered at-fault and insurances paid off individually.

 

[LilyWDW]

Your daughter needed to verify that the road was clear for her to enter it. The road was not clear (even if the car was parked illegally... it could have been a person or a moving vehicle instead), yet your daughter entered the lane of traffic. As such, your daughter is most likely at "fault" for the accident. She didn't make sure she could safely enter traffic.

Now, how much liability she has depends on your states laws... but she is not free from any.

 

[Coconut36]

No it won't matter. As the driver the burden is on you to make sure you are clear to proceed.

Exactly..if the car was there and illegally parked onus is still on the driver backing up to make sure they are clear. I had someone try to pull around behind me while I was backing up (so I was backing and they were attempting to drive through while I was backing up) and I was still found at fault even though they were in motion after I thought it was clear to go. I was told no matter what the blame rests on the person backing up.

 

[daughtersrus]

I think that I already know the answer but I thought I would get a few opinions while waiting to hear from our insurance agent. My 19 year old backed into another car and I think that the answer is that it is always your fault if you do the hitting. The situation is a little different. She was parked in an angled parking space on a one way street. The street has two lanes and someone parked a car in the middle of the two lanes and had left the car. She doesn't know when the car parked there but didn't see it when she started backing. It probably doesn't matter but the driver of the other car had parked there to go into a bar and came out drinking a beer. The point is the driver wasn't stopped to unload a car, they just needed/wanted a drink. No parking space was available so they just parked in the middle of the street.

I think my daughter will be charged with improper backing. Should it matter that the other car parked illegally? And more importantly, what will this do to our insurance rate?

My DD was in a similar accident. She was in an angle parking spot at Wal-Mart.

She had DH's Ford Focus. She was parked in a parking lot with an Ford Expedition on one side and an Escalade on the the other. Needless to say, it was hard for her to see when backing out. She backed out slowly but ended up hitting a pickup that was speeding down the aisle the wrong way. The police came and said that they couldn't give the guy in the pick-up a ticket because it was private property. The guy didn't speak English, his proof of insurance was a typed piece of paper... DH and I went to the lot. The officer told us that it was clearly the other guys fault.

We tried to file a claim with his insurance but they didn't speak English either. When I got someone to translate for me, it ended up that they didn't have a policy in his name or for the truck. We filed a claim with our insurance. State Farm said that it was DD's fault. No matter what the situation is, if you're in reverse, you're at fault.

It was a long battle. The other guy never filed a claim so DH told them to forget it. We would pay to fix it on our own. (DH works at a dealership so he could get the parts at a discount). State Farm said too bad. They knew about the accident so either way, she was going to loose her Steer Clear discount. They admitted that there was no way DD could have seen him coming down the wrong way but she was still at fault. We threatened to pull all of our policies from them if they took the discount away. In the end, our agent went to corporate and got them to leave the Steer Clear discount for DD. We fixed the car ourselves and never heard from the other driver.

 

[snykymom]

1) A driver who hits a stationary object, be it a pole, hydrant, curb or illegally parked car is always at fault.

2) He may have been parked illegally, but that did give her the right to hit him.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

Your daughter is at fault and no amount of talking is going to change it. I know as parents we want to make excuses for our kids but in some cases you just have to accept, the kid was in the wrong.

I am curious, not about whether your insurance rates will go up but rather DID YOU have your daughter on your insurance policy? Insurance requires all licensed drivers in a household be listed on a policy and if she wasn't listed on your policy you are probably going to get canceled. However if she is on it, then yes your rates are going to go up. Mostly because she is under age 26 (if she IS under 26). If an adult has a wreck they don't always increase the rates. Young ppl, they do.

I had an accident last summer. The first accident I have ever had in my life, but I was at fault. My insurance paid to fix both cars and we waited and waited for the notice of our rates going up and it never came. The rates never got changed.

 

[daughtersrus]

Your daughter is at fault and no amount of talking is going to change it. I know as parents we want to make excuses for our kids but in some cases you just have to accept, the kid was in the wrong.

I am curious, not about whether your insurance rates will go up but rather DID YOU have your daughter on your insurance policy? Insurance requires all licensed drivers in a household be listed on a policy and if she wasn't listed on your policy you are probably going to get canceled. However if she is on it, then yes your rates are going to go up. Mostly because she is under age 26 (if she IS under 26). If an adult has a wreck they don't always increase the rates. Young ppl, they do.
.

This isn't always the case. When my DD#1 got her license, we only had 2 cars. She was listed as a driver but wasn't "rated" on a car until we got a 3rd one. Our agent determined which car was cheapest and that is the one that she is rated on. However, she is covered to drive any of the cars.

When DD#2 got her license a few years later, she was able to drive any of the 3 cars. When she got her own car, the agent did the same thing and rated her on the cheapest car. She was in an accident 3 years ago. It was her fault but because we never had an accident that was our fault, they 'forgave' the accident and didn't raise any rates but did take away the Steer Clear discount. She was 18 at the time.