son hit neighbours car

Mids_Costcutter

dirtysexymonkey wrote: »

you should pay. your son damaged his car. if you dont pay you'll be liable to get a reputation as will your son. your neighbours been nice about this. if you cant afford to pay for the damage, you shouldnt be allowing your son out with something that can cause damage.

I wonder if the neighbour has a 'reputation' for parking on the pavement? The Highway Code states "do not park partially or wholly on the pavement unless signs permit it". It is not the role of the motorist to decide how much space to allow for pedestrians. The obstruction caused here was clearly a factor in the damage arising. For this reason I would not pay: the neighbour has insurance.

thunderbird

I think it depends on -

1. Was the car being parked on the pavement a factor in your son falling?
2. Would his scooter still have hit the car if it had been parked on the road?

jackie_w

Thank everyone for your replies.

I have contacted the local police station just to get a bit of info/advice. The Police officer I spoke to said its a civil matter, but technically he shouldnt have been parked on the pavement at all, and thats coming from a police officer.

if someone was to pass with a pram or a wheel chair, they would have to go onto the road, there is no way a pram or wheel chair would be able to pass on the pavement because of the way he has parked his car.

My husband is working away just now and I have called him, he has said to wait and see what the estimate is for the damage. My husband said he isnt bothered about falling out with him because he isnt directly across/next to us. One of the other neighbours saw my son fall, and came out to make sure he was okay. so she is a witness as to how much of the car was parked on the road. Infact one of the cars which is parked on the driveway, is actually hanging over onto the pavement too.

I will wait and see what happens.

thegirlintheattic

ZenUK wrote: »

Unless the pavement is specifically marked and signed I don't think it is legal to park on the pavement. So indirectly it is the car owners fault for obstructing the pavement. Hence you are more likely to have a claim against him if the scooter is damaged or your boy is hurt.
from Highway Code:
Source

It's not illegal outside of London, should is different to must. In many cases parking cars wholly in the road would be more of an inconviance or even dangerous due to the width of many residential roads.

ROSPA (http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/adviceandinformation/general/scooters.aspx) seems to suggest that scooter's are dodgy ground on the pavement themselves and shouldn't be used in narrow or crowded pavements.

OP - Your child did the damage by accident. It sounds like you are just trying to get out of paying. Set a good example to your child and pay up.

jackie_w

Mids_Costcutter wrote: »

I wonder if the neighbour has a 'reputation' for parking on the pavement? The Highway Code states "do not park partially or wholly on the pavement unless signs permit it". It is not the role of the motorist to decide how much space to allow for pedestrians. The obstruction caused here was clearly a factor in the damage arising. For this reason I would not pay: the neighbour has insurance.

He has 5 cars (I dont know if he is running a business from his home or not), but at least 2 cars are always partially parked on the pavement.

sock-knitter

when my sons were little, i had a double buggy, and often had to go onto the roaad to get around the cars on the pavement.
children should be playing in parks or in their own garden not a public place where scooters/ bikes/scateboards etc can injure a pedestrian, who does have the right to walk there
both in the wrong in my opinion

jackie_w

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

It's not illegal outside of London, should is different to must. In many cases parking cars wholly in the road would be more of an inconviance or even dangerous due to the width of many residential roads.

ROSPA (http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/adviceandinformation/general/scooters.aspx) seems to suggest that scooter's are dodgy ground on the pavement themselves and shouldn't be used in narrow or crowded pavements.

OP - Your child did the damage - on purpose or by accident. It sounds like you are just trying to get out of paying. Set a good example to your child and pay up.

Sorry where did I say that I didnt want to pay for the damage??? What I said was I didnt know if I could afford to pay for the damage, there is a difference, and if you had read from my previous post where I spoke to a Police officer who said the car shouldnt have been parked partially on the pavement at all.

If the car had been parked wholly on the road, my son wouldnt have caused any damage if he fell

globalds

jackie_w wrote: »

He has 5 cars (I dont know if he is running a business from his home or not), but at least 2 cars are always partially parked on the pavement.

Why didn't you complain about the cars before your kid hit one of them ...seems to me your looking for a reason not to do the right thing.

If someone damaged something of yours what would you hope for ?

Imp

I have three cars at the moment, and saw another one the other day which looked interesting, but I am definitely not running a business, just collecting self propelled pieces of sculpture.

victor2

I'm with those who say to see what the estimate is. If you feel you can't contribute something meaningful towards that, tell him to claim through his insurance, which just won't happen. If he's got 5 cars, it's quite easily an eyesore or hazard. You could always point that out to him and the local authority if things get nasty. Probably won't do any good other than stir things up a bit though.
Equally, if a neighbour's child damaged my vehicle, I'd hope the neighbour would contribute towards sorting it out. But if I was stupidly parked, then I'd probably accept it was as much my fault as the child's.