Parked car opened their door in to my moving car as I drove past. Who's at fault?

prowla

Mercdriver wrote: »

So what do you do when you approach a car with someone in the right hand side leaning towards the window as if they are about to emerge? If you are observing correctly (due care and attention) then you will slow down to take into account the fact that they might open the door. If you aren't expecting someone to do something silly in this circumstance then you are not driving defensively, and could be prone to not giving due care which may open up the 50/50 argument.

i too have been taught to allow a doors width except where it is impractical, and then slow down so able to stop if necessary.

This isn't as clear cut as it may seem. If you fail to see someone about to get out of a car then you simply aren't looking hard enough.

It is incumbent upon the person opening the car door to check that it is safe to do so.

If you have kids in the car, then that's what child locks are for.

Regardless of how fast you are going, there is some point at which you won't be able to stop if someone opens the door of a car you are approaching or passing, and if they open it into the side of your car (like the OP), then you may not notice til it's too late, as you should presumably be looking ahead where you are going rather than sideways.

Mojisola

Car_54 wrote: »

And perhaps the OP is lucky that it was a door opening rather than a child running out.

If a child ran out from between cars and was hit by a car, it still wouldn't be the driver's fault.

We can drive defensively and look out for hazards but we also have to drive at a reasonable speed. We can't go around at 5mph in case someone decides to open a car door without looking first.

[Deleted User]

zappahey wrote: »

In my experience with a current issue, the insurers will try to go 50-50 if there are no witnesses, even where the case appears cut and dried. In my case, someone reversed into me while I was stationary.

It makes life easier for them and they get more money out of both policy holders at renewal time.

I would agree it is unbelievable what insurers will do sometimes.

I clipped someones door once reversing out of a parking space - causing a 50p sized dent. Fair enough my fault. Person was in the car got out no worries. Must have got home and partner decided there was money to be made here.

Other person claimed £5000 whiplash injuries. My insurer paid out and couldnt be arsed to contest it.

Stoke

dannyrst wrote: »

Unless there was a valid reason (for example, physically restricted on the size of the road), the OP shouldn't have been so close to the car when passing.

I'm not saying the person who was parked isn't to blame, I'm saying they both are. Hence it isn't "open and shut" (like the door...:rotfl:) but is likely to be a 50-50 claim.

It's one of those that could go either way and depending on the insurance companies desire to not pay the costs.

Utter cat !!!! that is. If you're driving down a road, and a person opens their door fully, that could add up to a metre onto the width of their car.

movilogo

What if the door was opened by a passenger (not driver)?

The passenger is not even the policy holder, should you not try to get compensation from the passenger than the driver of offending vehicle?

A car is insured for only named drivers. So, if named driver is not active in an incident, then you need to claim from whoever caused the damage - isn't it?

http://www.accident-claim-expert.co.uk/road-accident-claim/car-damage-caused-by-passenger-who-pays-compensation.html

dannyrst

Stoke wrote: »

Utter cat !!!! that is. If you're driving down a road, and a person opens their door fully, that could add up to a metre onto the width of their car.

Oh dear. Read the highway code.

NBLondon

On the OPs version - they should win. Yes - you should leave a door's width if you can but that isn't always practical. The insurance co. accident investigators should be visiting the scene at the same time of day and looking to see whether OP could have been further out or not. Yes, people about to get out of a car is a hazard to be looking out for but if the point if impact is past the front of OP's car then the hazard was not in view.


So I'd say - if the insurance company says 50/50 - argue your case, insist they send an investigator to look at the street and so on. Don't be fobbed off easily

Retrogamer

Threads like this are often best in the insurance section of the forum. More people with insurance claim experience and who work in the industry frequent there.

Mojisola wrote: »

If a child ran out from between cars and was hit by a car, it still wouldn't be the driver's fault.

If the childs parents put in a claim to the drivers insurance for this, the driver would be held liable. Children are deemed unpredictable in civil law most of the time (depends on age) and as such cannot be liable.

londonTiger

Mercdriver wrote: »

So what do you do when you approach a car with someone in the right hand side leaning towards the window as if they are about to emerge? If you are observing correctly (due care and attention) then you will slow down to take into account the fact that they might open the door. If you aren't expecting someone to do something silly in this circumstance then you are not driving defensively, and could be prone to not giving due care which may open up the 50/50 argument.


i too have been taught to allow a doors width except where it is impractical, and then slow down so able to stop if necessary.

This isn't as clear cut as it may seem. If you fail to see someone about to get out of a car then you simply aren't looking hard enough.

Some people like to do trainspotting, others like to go and watch bowls live. some like to collect stamps and there are sados that do advanced driving courses who do all this asinine stuff.

IOf you're driivng through and looking at every siluhoutte on parked cars it wont be long before you get serious fatigue from bewing on high alert at all times. SOme other advanced driving course loser said on the course they were expected to know the make and model of the vehicle behind at every given time - they would be randomly tested by being asked what the car behind is.

WHY DOES IT MATTER WHAT VEHICLE IS BEHIND ME. My responsiblity is the the road in front. What happens behind me is the responsibility of the car behind and insurance companies accept that as the defacto rule.

The the responsibility of the driver of the other vehicle to ensure their passengers enter and exit the vehicle safely. Drivers get fined when passengers dont wear seatbelts, throw rubbish out of the window or overload. Not the passengers.

arcon5

Mercdriver wrote: »

So what do you do when you approach a car with someone in the right hand side leaning towards the window as if they are about to emerge? If you are observing correctly (due care and attention) then you will slow down to take into account the fact that they might open the door. If you aren't expecting someone to do something silly in this circumstance then you are not driving defensively, and could be prone to not giving due care which may open up the 50/50 argument.

i too have been taught to allow a doors width except where it is impractical, and then slow down so able to stop if necessary.

Then I slow down if I anticipate a dangerous situation is about to occur. What I don't do though is drive in the middle of a two way road and what I don't do is blame myself if i'm unable to stop in time.

This isn't as clear cut as it may seem.

It's fairly clear cut. Some idiot opens door in to passing vehicle and causes damage. Note the word passing. Not approaching, but passing, making your argument moot.

If you fail to see someone about to get out of a car then you simply aren't looking hard enough.

Or you're looking around at the other dozen hazards. Possibly even concentraing on road positioning since there are vehicles approaching and vehicles parked.
Jump off your high horse, put your highway code away and get in a car in the real world where we can't simply foresee every single incident facing us!