car accident who is liable?

mattymoo

Impact damage based on degree of crumpling is an inexact science. Previous accident damage will cause greater deformation for instance, leading you to think incorrectly that the vehicle was going faster.

Tyre skid marks - assuming weather conditions are condusive to them forming and staying in place. They require forensic examination by police accident investigator and only if they are minded to prosecute one of the parties usually. Can be disputed using private forensic firm but this costs mucho money.

Are you talking about a real life case Labman or just hypothecising ?

Wig

Idiophreak wrote: »

I was always taught that you should always be able to stop comfortably in the distance you can see between yourself and the nearest potential hazard.
(not saying I do this, just saying what I was taught )

If you fail to stop in time when a hazard occurs, you've only really got yourself to blame.

Car B was either going too fast or driving too close to the parked cars, one or the other.

Yourself and the previous poster who said this are mad, if you went by your rules everyone would have to drive at under 3 miles an hour. Your rule also does not make sense at the very least by your rules both A and B are equally responsible, indeed in every acident it would be joint liability.


BTW OP, I think clealy it is Car 'A' who is 100% to blame. Assuming you are telling the truth. I suspect you are Car 'B'.

currantbun

As I recently was involved in an accident very similar to this, I say (and both insurance companies agree) that car A is to blame. In my situation, the driver of Car A pulled (forwards) off their drive as I (car pootled along doing only about 15 mph having just pulled of my drive. Car A hit Car B quite hard, causing car A to need a new front bumper, new offside wing and respray to door. The saddest thing was that the garage gave me a very nice brand spanking new Polo to drive while they repaired my 7 yr old Daewoo Matiz (stop laughing), and then expected me to give the Polo back without a fuss! Now, where did I put my copy of autotrader?

oldagetraveller

The driver of Car A should hve adhered to the Highway Code

176: Choose an appropriate place to manoeuvre. If you need to turn your car around, wait until you find a safe place. Try not to reverse or turn round in a busy road; find a quiet side road or drive round a block of side streets.
177: Do not reverse from a side road into a main road. When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can.
178: Look carefully before you start reversing. You should

• use all your mirrors
• check the 'blind spot' behind you (the part of the road you cannot see easily in the mirrors)
• check there are no pedestrians, particularly children, cyclists, or obstructions in the road behind you
• look mainly through the rear window
• check all around just before you start to turn and be aware that the front of your vehicle will swing out as you turn
• get someone to guide you if you cannot see clearly.

178 being the appropriate section. So in my opinion 100% blame of the reversing driver.

If the quote breaches any copyright then I'll remove.

Idiophreak

ShowmetheMoney wrote: »

Car A at fault.
Assume Car B was travelling within speed limit then there is no way car B can be at fault.

It's comments like this that scare me somewhat...

What on earth does the speed limit have to do with anything? If the car's going too fast, it's going too fast - you don't need a speed limit to tell you that.

scheming_gypsy

well if it's going too fast then its more than likely over the speed limit.

noh

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

well if it's going too fast then its more than likely over the speed limit.

It could just as well be under the speed limit.
An appropriate speed depends on the road conditions not on the legal speed limit. Someone driving at 30mph in a 30mph limit could easily be driving too fast depending on the road conditions and surrounding hazards.

Nigel

olly300

Strangely the accident sounds like something that could happen to me or my neighbours where I live. (OP you sure you are not one of my neighbours?)

I live in a 20mph zone and cars are parked on the pavement horizontal to the road. At the moment there are also parked cars along the road so you have to pull out slowly through the gaps, where there are yellow lines. However you need to be careful as there are people walking along the pavement and car drivers on the road may not see you particularly if you have to pull out behind a van.

Therefore you have to:
1. pull out slowly
2. make sure you are facing forward
3. make sure the gap is large enough for you to pull out in (which means you may have to wait 5-10 minutes particularly in rush hour)
4. be aware that some drivers don't adhere to the 20mph speed limit and will drive nearer 40 mph particularly in the early morning or evening, or are an emergency vehicle

If an accident occured because someone pulled off the pavement it would be their fault.

foz2000

Car A, who is reversing is at fault as if you are checking around the car when pulling out and you see another car approaching it is you that has to stop, same when doing a 3point turn (as long as not blocking the road). Thats why learners always stop if another car is approaching them. Learners are great drivers (lol)

anniecave

The reversing on to your drive so you can drive off it is a good idea

I try to always do this.

I recall a friend saying to me that they were reversing off their driveway (paying as much care as possible, slowly, looking all around) and someone who was driving fast drove into them as they were reversing, and it was deemed to be the fault of the reversing driver as they were reversing out onto a road. That scared me, and I've avoided reversing out ever since....