hit while parallel parking

[xjag]

California. I was parallel parking and was side-swiped by a car passing from behind. The car hit the side of my front left bumper and fender as I was backing into the spot. Who is at fault?

 

[shell007]

Did the other driver leave the scene of the accident? (hit and run)?

Did you call the police?

 

[xjag]

no hit and run. The driver stopped and we exchanged numbers/insurance info. I called the police, but they said that they do not respond to accidents w/o injury.

 

[shell007]

Sooo...when you reported it to the ins. Co...What did they say?

Did his ins. co. pay for your damage?

Did he file a claim with your ins. Co?

Did your ins. co. pay his damages?

Many many un-ansered questions and many possible Scenarios here!

 

[xjag]

It happened today

I haven't called my insurance co yet

He said his friend who speaks English would call me (he is Asian and didn't speak English well)

I'm hoping they will pay for damages w/o going to insurance co's. but if they don't and it goes to our respective insurance co's, I'm wondering who is at fault. It seems like he would be, since he came from behind, similar to a rear ender.

He seems to think that I swung out into him as I was backing up and he was passing by. But his car has several scrapes on that side that are rusted, so it looks like he's had a few accidents. Hmm.

 

[shell007]

Sounds like this is going to be a case of "he said...she said"....you get my point.

No police report blah, blah, blah.

He seems to think that I swung out into him as I was backing up and he was passing by.

A: sounds like he thinks it was your fault and not his.

I'm hoping they will pay for damages w/o going to insurance co's.

A: not if he thinks it was your fault.

But his car has several scrapes on that side that are rusted, so it looks like he's had a few accidents. Hmm

A: Not necessarily. He could have bought an old beat-up car that was already wrecked. Doesn't matter anyway whether he has been in previous accidents or not.

 

[MandyD]

Whether the other driver left the scene or not makes no difference. Why was this even asked?

BEFORE you parallel park, you MUST look behind you and make certain there isn't traffic coming. If you had followed that first step, the accident wouldn't have happened. It's my opinion that you are at fault.

 

[shell007]

Whether the other driver left the scene or not makes no difference. Why was this even asked?

#1 Because I was trying to get the full version of this story, (not bits and pieces), before making any further reply's.

#2 The OP did not have a problem with me asking the question, nor did he have a problem answering it.

#3 By finding out this information from the OP..It clearly shed more light on the subject, which was the purpose of my question, and there was no harm done by asking.

#4 I'm not sure why you seem to have taken offence to my question to the OP.

#5 Feel free to make statments or ask questions to the OP as you wish. This is a forum. I do not hunt your postings down and bother you...therefore, I would appreciate it if you would stop doing it to me! (This is not the first time that this has happened)

#6 If you don't agree with what I post or If I annoy you...You may choose to add me to your "Ignore" list. Good Day to you!

 

[Gotalife]

I don't know why people feel the need to be so obnoxious on this forum.

If you're parallel parking, isn't it the procedure to use your turn signal as you approach to allert anyone behind you that you are about to park? You then go slightly past the space and then back in. If you follow that procedure, isn't it the oncoming traffic's responsibility to notice what you're doing and adjust accordingly, either by going around or stopping until you're out of the way. If this wasn't the case, how would anyone ever park.

 

[MandyD]

I don't know why people feel the need to be so obnoxious on this forum.

If you're parallel parking, isn't it the procedure to use your turn signal as you approach to allert anyone behind you that you are about to park? You then go slightly past the space and then back in. If you follow that procedure, isn't it the oncoming traffic's responsibility to notice what you're doing and adjust accordingly, either by going around or stopping until you're out of the way. If this wasn't the case, how would anyone ever park.

You forgot one important step in parallel parking. After you have stopped and employed your turn signal, you WAIT for traffic to clear behind you. The flow of traffic doesn't have to stop because someone wants to park. They stay stopped themselves until it's clear to park.

 

[Gotalife]

First of all, I would hope that you employ your turn signal and THEN stop. After all, that's what a turn signal is for, to let those around you know that you are ABOUT to do something so they can prepare for whatever that might be.

However, you are right, you should wait for traffic to clear before proceeding.

On the other hand, what if the traffic was clear and the other driver approached after the first had started backing, which was my interpretation of events. If you're backing and turned around to watch the corner of the parking spot, as you should be when you parallel park, you wouldn't see someone approaching. Parallel parking can sometimes take several minutes. Isn't there some responsibility for other drivers who approach during the process?