Can somebody please help me!

Kalisi90

I live on a cul de sac, this morning when leaving for the school run, I was pulling off my drive and looked to the right of me and my neighbour was reversing down the street, so I stopped and before I could reverse or beep she bumped into the front of my car (wheel arch) the car is currently in the garage being examined as my neighbour doesn't want to go through insurance, and says whatever the damage costs we can put too for?

Was this my fault too??

Bigphil1474

Possibly - If there were any witnesses, might be worth getting their account now rather than later. Without witnesses it might be a 50/50 claim if it did go through insurance. Other driver could argue that the road was clear when they started reversing, but even then they should have been looking backwards (reality) or using their mirrors (as per test standards) and should have seen you - unless of course you happened to pull out at the very second they reversed in your direction. If your happy your neighbour will pay up and there'll be no issues, then it should be fine. If your car is a bit fancy and the bill is going to be extortionate, they might change their mind about paying up so be wary.

facade

Kalisi90 wrote: »

Was this my fault too??

I'd say so, as you drove into the path of the other car, then stopped and looked for it but before you even had time to beep the horn they hit you, so they couldn't have been far away when you started off.

The onus is on the reversing driver not to crash into anything, but you do have to give them a chance by not driving in their way and stopping, if there was no time for you to react, they didn't have any time either, and you pulled half off a drive into the road before checking if the road was clear.

I'd say the insurance will apportion blame to both drivers.

Joe_Horner

facade wrote: »

The onus is on the reversing driver not to crash into anything,

There's an equal or greater onus on a driver entering a road not to do so into the path of a moving vehicle already on that road, whichever direction it's moving in.

Billy_Bullocks

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

Possibly - If there were any witnesses, might be worth getting their account now rather than later. Without witnesses it might be a 50/50 claim if it did go through insurance. Other driver could argue that the road was clear when they started reversing, but even then they should have been looking backwards (reality) or using their mirrors (as per test standards) and should have seen you - unless of course you happened to pull out at the very second they reversed in your direction. If your happy your neighbour will pay up and there'll be no issues, then it should be fine. If your car is a bit fancy and the bill is going to be extortionate, they might change their mind about paying up so be wary.

Do you mean not reversing further than is necessary?

[Deleted User]

Joe_Horner wrote: »

There's an equal or greater onus on a driver entering a road not to do so into the path of a moving vehicle already on that road, whichever direction it's moving in.

That's what I thought too, the OP would be lucky to get away without total blame falling on them if they were daft enough to take it to the insurers. The neighbour is being more than fair in offering to pay half as they had right of way.

Bigphil1474

Billy_Bullocks wrote: »

Do you mean not reversing further than is necessary?

Billy, I meant the difference between how we all did our reversing in the correct manner when we were passing our test, as opposed to how some might reverse now given they've become expert drivers.

Car_54

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

Other driver could argue that the road was clear when they started reversing, but even then they should have been looking backwards (reality) or using their mirrors (as per test standards) and should have seen you

I'm not quite sure what you mean by test standards - anyone relying on their mirrors on test is likely to fail. You are expected to loook mainly out of the back window (Highway Code 202).

If the neighbour had been looking correctly she would probably have seen the OP, since her peripheral vision would pick up movement outside the field of view of her mirrors.

Having said that, I agree that the OP was at fault and the neighbour is being generous (or ill-advised!).

Billy_Bullocks

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

Billy, I meant the difference between how we all did our reversing in the correct manner when we were passing our test, as opposed to how some might reverse now given they've become expert drivers.

I don't think you'd pass your test however you reversed out of a cul-de-sac, unless there really was no other option.