Who's at fault????

AnxiousMum

Hi everybody - just came back home after a stop at the petrol station with my kids. We were parked, I was out of the car at the pump, and one of the kids had to go to the toilet. He opened his door, and a car driving right through the pumps got scraped by the car door. My son (8 yrs old) says he looked, but the car 'sped through' the pumps. The panel on his car is scratched with a slight dent to the front drivers quarterpanel - but he's saying of course it will need to be fully replaced. As broke as we are at the moment, I don't need this added expense - but realise that my son did open the door - but.....if he was speeding through as well, then my son couldn't have seen him coming. I will ask to see a copy of the cctv tomorrow when I go back. Any advice?

MrsE_2

My guess is you will have to pay.

If he had been stopped getting petrol he wouldn't have enough road to get up to much speed in a garage.

Plus if he really was speeding in such a confined area you would have been aware of it.

AnxiousMum

Thanks MrsE - pretty much as I expect. Just thought there was some thing about 'if your car is stationery - you're not at fault' - and I was the one stationery. I could hope

MrsE_2

AnxiousMum wrote: »

Thanks MrsE - pretty much as I expect. Just thought there was some thing about 'if your car is stationery - you're not at fault' - and I was the one stationery. I could hope

I think in any other circumstances you would be right, apart from this one, typical huh?

dacouch

The garage will not allow you to watch the CCTV footage.

Its an open and shut case, unfortunately you will be at fault.

AnxiousMum

Thanks Dacouch....not what I want to hear, but is reality! I'm just glad that it was the door, and not a couple of seconds later when it would've been my son hit instead.

dacouch

Yes you were lucky.

It might be worth activating the child locks on the rear doors if you car has the option

Quentin

AnxiousMum wrote: »

The panel on his car is scratched with a slight dent to the front drivers quarterpanel - but he's saying of course it will need to be fully replaced. As broke as we are at the moment, I don't need this added expense

You won't incur any immediate expense over this.

Inform your insurer of the incident.

Then pass on any correspondence you receive about this to your insurer and let them deal with it.

If it is decided you are liable for the costs, then your insurer will pay, and you will pay nothing.

The expense will come at renewal as your premium will increase, but as always shop around at that time for the best deal.

cogito

Can an 8 year old carry out a negligent act?

lisyloo

Can an 8 year old carry out a negligent act?

Hmm...clearly it's very difficult to make judgments without full information but a couple of things strike me here.

1) Normally an 8 year old would not have a good appreciation of vehicle speed.
2) Should the responsible adult have supervised this? This could possibly have been a cyclist, motorcyclist or vulnerable pedestrian e.g. old lady.
3) Not much space to accelerate at most petrol stations and if they were screaming through they should have been heard in advance.

I have a feeling that the driver is responsible for their passengers actions in this situation regardless of age (perhaps someone can confirm or deny).
So there is an argument the driver should have not really left it to an 8 year old to judge when it was safe to open the door.

AnxiousMum

Um Lisyloo - thanks for your advice, however.......I do not leave it to an 8 yr old to judge when it's safe to do something - I AM a responsible parent - I was out of the car pumping petrol, and he simply opened the door on the opposite side of the car.

As for 'not possible to get up speed'......actually, at this petrol station it is - as it is quite off of the road with a large parking area prior to the pumps. Yes, the child does have an appreciation of speed - he comments on speeding drivers through our small country roads all the time.

I do accept responsibility for the incident - but I do notice that alot of times on these threads, things are read into something without anything really to back it up - and insinuating someone being an irresponsible parent.......well - not a good thing to do!

Maybe the driver of the other vehicle shouldn't have been using the petrol lanes to correct his wrong turn and using it as a cut through - but having said that, I will accept the responsibility.