By Seth Anderson on Flickr
Question: One night it was extremely dark and I backed into a car. It was in a tow zone and there aren’t supposed to be any vehicles parked there. I go to this place all the time so I did not expect there to be a vehicle there. Am I at fault if I hit a parked car that was in a tow zone?
Answer: Here’s your problem: you were moving and the parked car was not. The car you struck may have been illegally parked, in violation of ordinances, statutes, and all the rest. But, the negligence formula requires a look at conduct. You were in control of the vehicle that was moving. The other car was stopped like a rock. So technically, it is your fault.
Look at it like this: although the other car’s driver left the vehicle in a bad place, you had the last clear chance to stop a collision. There is in fact a legal doctrine known as last clear chance which will not be your friend in that the parked car, although in the wrong place at the wrong time, did nothing in the moment before the crash to cause the damage.
To be fair, some jurisdictions have abandoned the ‘last clear chance’ doctrine. Comparative fault or contributory negligence formulas are used to look at facts and circumstances leading up to a collision. Proportional fault is then assigned to each of the parties. There’s a more thorough explanation of these legal concepts in another article.
Under this concept, parking the car in a tow zone violated an ordinance or other law largely intended for public safety and traffic control. That wasn’t what caused the actual collision. Starting up the car and backing into the stopped vehicle caused the crash. Under either analysis the result is the same.
Hopefully you have insurance which can adjust the loss and everyone can back out of the situation and move on with their lives.
More legal topic in this link.
This blog post based on an article © 2012 Eagle Tribune Corporation, originally appearing in Derry News “About the Law”
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not clear at all!
What's not clear? You are operating a vehicle and controlling its movements. The stationery vehicle is not moving. You back into it. Not sure what is not clear about this but get back to me and I will try to respond. Thank you for contacting me through my website.
There is always an exception to the rule.
I've always said if you can send me a case or an insurance result that goes contrary to this blog please send it and I will post it. All the best.
I backed into an illegally parked car that was parked 5 feet from the curb and I was parked legally. I checked my mirror and could not see the car at all. I pulled out and hit the front edge of the car. Who is at fault. Arizona.
You. The other car, even though not parked properly, was stationery. You were moving your car and caused the collision. I have always said if someone can show me a case or the determination of an insurance company to the contrary, send it to me and I will post it. I have been posting this for years and so far, no determinations to the contrary. Have a good one!
My wife backed up and tapped a vehicle the owner was standing next to the drivers door he was dropping off a friend. It was pitch dark my wife looked in both mirrors and put our vehicle in reverse moved maybe 2 ft. and hit his car he could see that. She was backing up no response from him to make us aware that he was behind us or that we were going to hit him. Only a scratch might have pushed his bumper in couple of mm barely. Wants us to pay deductible of 500 whose at fault. What to do ??? Thank you rob and Kathy
It sounds like minimal damage. The fact remains that the other car was stationery and your car with your wife driving was moving, so she had the last clear chance to avoid contact and is liable. To your concern that the are puffing up the damages you have a right to see the actual damage repair estimate. If you can't compromise your choices include letting them take you to a small claims court where the judge would have to decide the issue, or let your insurance company deal with it. Yes, I know, within your deductible. But its what insurance companies do. Yes, I know, major pain, but these things happen.
hello, i recently hit a car that was parked next to me as i was backing up but the thing is, she wasn’t parked in a legal parking spot, i warned her i wasn’t capable of backing up bc i wasn’t use to driving the vechile i was driving, i waited 23 minutes for her to back up & she didn’t she was talking to her friend in the car, so when i did back up i struck her car. whose at fault?
Put yourself in their position. Would you want someone taking your car to their unknown to you, personal family repair person? Objectively speaking the answer is no. So the choice is yours. Pay what they want or let them take you to small claims court. If you go to small claims court you should have documentation to show their proof is not reasonable. The other possible solution, request that they get a second estimate from a repair facility with no connection to either one of you. Best wishes.
Hi,
Any angle if the car had a tow bar? E.g. the car was illegally blocking my driveway. I backed out and missed the car (as planned) but hit the tow bar which was impossible to see whilst driving.
Ryan I love the way my blog readers push the limits on the issues presented in my articles. The facts would still be the same - you were moving, the other vehicle was not moving, and you backed into it. On the other hand if you get a claims adjuster with a little bit of sense of reality or a practical small claims court judge, your point might be taken into account.
Okay so... I was at my girlfriends last week, and parked in her alley which is a tow zone, put my hazards on and ran inside. Her neighbor backed up and hit my car. I took it to get an estimate and it was $1,377. She got the estimate and then sent it to her dad, who is an attorney, and he told me he would pay $500. He said it was that or nothing. Yes I was parked in the wrong spot, but she had the opportunity to avoid it. Is it smart to argue about compensation or have insurance deal with it? Will my rate go up or is this doctrine a way to defend that?
So dad is playing claims adjuster and "Let's Make a Deal" at the same time. Not his role. Put a claim in against the girl's insurance company, and if the family is not cooperating file a small claim. This is the function of the courts and the insurance companies, not lawyer dad.
Two nights ago I was in a rural neighborhood with no street lights. I backed out of a driveway, after looking both ways for any traffic, and checking my mirrors. As I backed out I turned the wheel to adjust to go forward, as I did so I checked my mirrors again, which is out of habit, due to mailboxes being at the road. I backed into a car that was parked in a driveway at the edge of the road. Not even a foot away, I mean at the edge, may have even actually been in the road by inches. I am in Michigan, which is a no fault State. She went to the police post two days later and I was sent a citation. It was their decision to not call the police, now I have a ticket. There five parking spots in front of her car. How do I find out if she has insurance to cover the damages instead of her suing me for it
Either contact the owner of the vehicle director or contact the Michigan Department of State for the information.
Hi Sir, how if I hit an illegally parked car and his car park at almost half of the road side. It's 2 way road and both side of the road is full of illegally parked car. Am I liable for his car expenses? It's the one that parks illegally. Isn't the illegal parker liable for my car repair expenses?
Sorry, but you were operating a moving vehicle and struck a stationary object. The concept described in the blog article applies. Have your insurance company deal with it. It's why we have insurance.
I give you alot of credit for even answering some of these posts. Your eyes should remain looking in the direction your vehicle is moving. When backing up, continue to look back until you come to a stop. Idiots
Hello Sir,
This just happened to me and I don t know what to do. I am in California. I was at gym parking lot and there was zero parking after I looked for a long time and it is later in the evening so I parked in red zone in the parking area as I have seen people park there before at times. For only a short while. My bad luck I get hit.
When I came back there was a note on my car that this guy says he ran into my car door to call him. But when I called he was extremely rude and said there was not enough room for his truck to back out and it is my fault to park illegally and he says I should go look it up and he hang up on me. I looked up his name of Facebook and after seeing his profile is see he is definitively a bully. This is unfair and I don't know what to do - and I am sure because I am a woman he thinks he can do whatever he wants. I heard that he thrown a ball at the people in the pool when they are swimmers in the lane - rude behavior! I need advise and attorney help.
Dear Ms. Malek;
Report the incident to your insurance company and let them deal with it. This is why we all pay the big bucks to insure our cars because in life things happen and the insurance companies will hammer it out. Walk away.
Ok I totally understand that we were the ones backing out of our driveway Christmas eve, but it was unusually foggy and dark out.
We lived here 23 years and know there is no parking so my husband didn't see the car, is there anyway to sue the owner of the parked car, if he wasn't illegally parked my car would NOT be wrecked!????
Sure there's a way you can sue the owner of the parked car. You're not going to win. I keep telling everyone that responds to this blog to contact me and show me the judgment or positive insurance result when they win. I'm still waiting.