Who is in the wrong? | Fault for this accident?

by Tom

Last week I parked my car on the main road.

Later I crossed the road to get back into my car, and looked to see if there was any oncoming traffic. I did see a car coming towards me but I reckoned she was far enough away for me to get into my car. So I stood beside my car, unlocked it, opened my door and suddenly that car slammed into my door.

The driver of the oncoming car blamed me by saying that I should have seen her coming. Surely she is wrong because if she was that close to me, she would have splattered me as I was unlocking my car, which leads me to believe that she should have taken more care by slowing down?


Answer:

Hello Tom,

You are probably asking who is at fault on this situation. Please see: http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/Fault-for-the-Accident.html

As you know fault is not a "one party" or another party type of thing. It can be shared.

In this situation, it's likely that both parties have a duty to look out and not open/crash against a door. If you saw here far away, you clearly had a duty NOT to open the door until it was safe. The fact that the crash happened shows that it was not safe to do so.

She had a duty to see you and not be so close as to cause a wreck.

Both drivers are likely to share liability on this.

I hope this helps


Good Luck,
http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com