Rear Ended While Parking

[miknwv]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? West Virginia

I turned left at an intersection and on the street I turned onto, there are rows of parking spots on either side of the road. I was planning to park in one of the spots on the right hand side.

After turning onto this street, I drove about 50 feet, turned on my right blinker and then cut left about 5 feet so I could line up to back into the spot in the parking lot on the right side of the street (having a long wheel base truck, backing in is much, much easier).

I begin backing into my spot and I was at about a 45 degree angle and cutting my wheels hard right so that when I was finished backing, I would be perfectly lined up in the spot. While making this 45 degree turn, I hear and feel a smash and then I hear a horn.

While my passenger side tire was touching the paint in the parking spot, a gentleman hit my drivers side rear bumper which, due to the angle, was not yet in the parking spot. When I got out and looked, his passenger side of his car was only about 6 inches away from the paint marking the parking spot, which led me to believe that he was trying to beat me into that spot, because when I started backing up, he was nowhere to be seen; however, his car was still somewhat aimed as if he were driving down the street but his passenger wheels were in the parking area and his drivers wheels were in the street.

His wife showed up 5 minutes AFTER the accident and told the officer that she saw me back up out of the parking lot on the opposite side of the street, into the road, and directly into his vehicle. Later on, in front of the cop, I asked her if she saw it happen and she said no, so she gave a false statement in the beginning. Then, out of nowhere, the rest of the family showed up claiming they saw it all, and that I backed out and rammed his car.

Even with all of these false statements, if we stick with the facts and the laws, who's to be at fault here? Keeping in mind, it was a road with no center lines, just a neighborhood road with 90-degree rows of parking spots on each side.

 

[Zigner]

Sticking with the facts...you backed in to the other vehicle. You are at fault.

 

[miknwv]

He wasn't parked....he drove into me as I was parking, he turned the curve too fast and drove right into me.

 

[Legal Man]

It certainly wasn't you that was at fault. The whole family that claims they saw it are filing false claims, so if the officer or court (should you take it there) discovers that they were lying to law enforcement, they could be found in contempt of court, and it's likely you'd be able to sue them. It's my advice that you get a lawyer.

 

[ecmst12]

Wrong. You were backing up, he was going forward, you are at fault. The backing vehicle has the duty to yield to ALL traffic moving forwards. Your insurance company will tell you the same thing.

 

[miknwv]

Okay, so lets throw a theoretical here:

I'm driving down a city street and I go to parallel park. I turn on my blinker, pass the parking space up, then proceed to back into it and someone runs into the rear of my car. Who is at fault?

I wasn't parallel parking, however, I was backing into a parking space from a city street. He had a stop sign before making that turn so he either:
A. Blew the stop sign and hit me, or;
B. Stopped at the stop sign, which would have given him plenty of time to see me, then turned at the intersection and ran into me.

 

[LillianX]

We do not do hypotheticals here. This is not a court, and you have no need to try to convince us that you are in the right. We are dealing with your situation. In your situation, you are at fault for the accident.

 

[miknwv]

When one vehicle rear-ends another, how is the vehicle that is rear-ended at fault? He failed to maintain control of his vehicle. Like I said, I didn't back into him and I wasn't backing towards him. I was backing into a parking spot at an angle and he ran into the rear quarter panel of my truck. My vehicle was not moving towards his.....If it were the face of a clock, I was backing into the 9 o'clock position and he hit me coming from the 12 o'clock position.

As a matter of fact, after taking pictures of the accident scene, his car was part way in the parking spot that I was attempting to back into. The passenger side of his car was not on the city street, therefore he ran off the road.

 

[Banned_Princess]

It is why we are all supposed to carry insurance. Appropriate insurance.

I hope you have collision, and your car is worth something.

 

[LillianX]

Like I said, dude, this is not a court. This is a legal advice forum. You have no need to convince US of anything. You asked for an opinion, and the consensus is that you are at fault. You're wasting energy arguing your fault/no fault here. Argue it with the other guy's insurance company.

 

[miknwv]

Wow, you all fail to even comprehend all of the facts and when I try to give more details you turn into complete dicks....this isnt a legal advice forum, it's a "lets pick on people asking for help forum"

 

[LillianX]

Oh please. No one picked on you. You were given an opinion, one that you were at fault, and you didn't like it, so you attempted to argue it. You also didn't give additional facts. You gave a hypothetical scenario that was different from your actual one. I merely pointed out that arguing HERE is pointless, because no one here has any power over your situation. The legal reality is that it appears as though you are at fault. Arguing about it on the internet is not going to help you, because we are not the insurance company, or the court.

Go pay an attorney.

 

[cyjeff]

When one vehicle rear-ends another, how is the vehicle that is rear-ended at fault?

When the vehicle is in reverse.

 

[ecmst12]

This is not a rear ending accident. And a backing vehicle is ALWAYS at fault when it collides with a vehicle going forward. Sorry that's not what you wanted to hear.