Grrr car park incident!

[saber]

Hey there guys, need to vent :

I was on my lunch break, and decided to go home to eat lunch with my fiance. The carpark is shown below:



I had my car parked in the red, the other person had her car parked in the blue.

I got into my car, started her up, looked to see if it was safe to reverse, then started to reverse. I was half way out in my XF ute when I saw car blue turn on the reverse lights. I continued to reverse out, as at that point she had not moved. Then I saw the blue car reverse out, at which point I braked (I was about 3/4 out of the carbay) and stopped. She didn't, and about 1 second later hit my toebar. I put my car back into drive, and drove foward back into the carbay to allow the other cars to pass. As she hit my toebar there was no damage to my car, but she has a bit of paint off her rear bumper.

Who was right in this situation? She told me I was in here "blind spot", and offered no apology, even going as far as to accuse me of not getting out of her way when she started to reverse even though I was half way out!! She was making a big deal over it, when in reality it was a tap at 5km/h.
:


I got her details, and but am not sure what to do next, as I have never been in this situation before. I have not called up my insurance company yet (I've got third party, and really I have no reason to claim anything as there is no damage to the old ute).

What should I do?

[Abacus]

In theory, you were stationary, she was reversing, so it's her fault.

In practice, your word against hers, the insurer would assume you both reversed into each other, therefore you would each be responsible for your own repairs.

There is no way that you ought to be liable for damage to her car. If her insurance company starts hassling you tell them the facts.

[Scruba]

The Law states that a reversing vehicle is at fault. Happened to a mate of mine in the same situation. Had to cover his own repairs as did the other driver.

[snappy]

If that picture is accurate how the hell is that a blind spot .
Did you tell her when reversing things from behind get closer

[bodes-sh]

^^lmao, yep as above, she is at fault. had a similar thing happen to me once, although i was right out of the parking space, going back to 1st to drive off (manual) then bang. stopped and some guy in an xf ute had reversed out behind me and when i rolled back a small distance my towbar hit his rear 1/4 panel behind the back wheel. only broke my tail light, but left a major dent in his car lol. i reported it to the cops, drew a pic and all that for them. never chased it up, but the guy rang my house when i wasn't there and spoke to mum. he was trying to make me pay for the damage to his car, but she basically told him where to go as he was in the wrong

[saber]

Originally Posted by snappy84

If that picture is accurate how the hell is that a blind spot .
Did you tell her when reversing things from behind get closer

I should of, but unlike my old man (who would have ripped right into her) I stayed calm, just got the details and left it at that. To be honest, as she is at fault, I'm just happy to leave it at that, but she seemed pretty intent to take it further. Apart from getting some pics of where the incident occurred, what else should I do? Should the police/insurance company get involved?

Originally Posted by Scruba

The Law states that a reversing vehicle is at fault. Happened to a mate of mine in the same situation. Had to cover his own repairs as did the other driver.

Thanks mate, as I said she hit my toebar, there is no damage at all to me, you wouldn't know I was hit as the shower an hour later washed off any paint on the toeball lol.

[jaydee]

Mate you can bet her story sounds the same as yours and is blaming you for it.
If her insurance company contacts you stick to your guns and tell them, sorry but no way am I wearing this, go jump.

Not sure what state you're in but I'm almost certain they're all the same laws in this regard and you don't have to report it. No offence as there's no allegation of dangerous driving, just one of those things and this forum is full of stories like this one, so you're not alone.

[FORDavid]

it seems after the accident her car turned into a funny oval shape. Must have really hit hard

[saber]

Originally Posted by FORDavid

it seems after the accident her car turned into a funny oval shape. Must have really hit hard

Squashed her mate

Well this just caps my night off. Went to a mates 21st at the local foot club. Had a few drinks, and did the sensible thing and got a friend to drop me off home. No sooner than 10 mins after I get home I get a call from the fiance telling my some mother f*&^*ing bastard had broken and was sitting in my car! She marched right into the car, pulled the door open, and told him to "get the f&*k out". Apparently a "mate" told him my car was ok to do some drugs in. He jammed a knife in the passenger side lock to get in. He didn't take anything (I don't keep anything in my car due to the scummy area I work in) and didn't hurt my finance thank god.

The police was called. They will dust for prints in the morning; they can't do it now as it is drizzling in Melbourne at the moment. But to be honest, while I'm thankful they reacted quickly, there is little they can do.

Hopefully tomorrow is less eventful.

[Pinkbits]

Are you related to Ralliart?
You could compare "toebars" together.

[vik351]

Foot fettish...Lick the toes

vik...And get a bar...

[XM-221]

Originally Posted by Pinkbits

Are you related to Ralliart?
You could compare "toebars" together.

Pinkbits I wonder if they both have "Padels" as well.
How is our good buddy Erik lately .... Noticed he hasn't been on in the last few days.....

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by XM-221

Pinkbits I wonder if they both have "Padels" as well.
How is our good buddy Erik lately .... Noticed he hasn't been on in the last few days.....

I think Erik had a toll bar incident actually.

Erik has been logging on, was on last night. I think the poor guys a bit embarassed after the last time he posted. As I said last time, he is trying to improve his spelling.

[Silver Ghia]

And I'm embarrassed also, spelling 'embarrassed' wrong ^^^^ and too late to edit, so I'm not perfect either.

[TUF_302]

she is in the wrong!, if you hit a staionary car its your fault!, silly woman! :

[dtp]

It looks like ONE way traffic from top to bottom (see the car bays on the right hand side). Why did you reverse that way? You should reverse your car to top of the page direction and forward to bottom of the page direction (if it is one way traffic)

[saber]

Originally Posted by dtp

It looks like ONE way traffic from top to bottom (see the car bays on the right hand side). Why did you reverse that way? You should reverse your car to top of the page direction and forward to bottom of the page direction (if it is one way traffic)

Sorry mate, the road is two way traffic. Up the page leads to the car parks exit while the bottom of the page leads to more car parking spaces and shops.

[InTrail]

My missus had a very similar experience. She was backing out of a park in a shopping centre when she saw the car parked diagonally behind also start to reverse. She stopped and hit the horn, but he kept coming and smacked into the boot lid, just hard enough to leave a large shallow dint.

The other driver claimed they were both at fault and that in a car park there is no strict liability. Fortunately a few bystanders volunteered as witnesses, and our insurance paid out as not at fault.

[ea90gl]

Unfortunately some people are incredibly dumb when it comes to reversing out of parking spaces, this one time I was stuck waiting heading out of a car park then all of a sudden I hear this old Holden ute start his car up (he's in a bay beside me while im allready out just sitting there). Im thinking nothing to worry about here, then all of a sudden his reverse lights appear and for some reason after being oblivious to my honking he proceeds to reverse straight into the car I was in (the sisters car at that, she wasnt too happy afterwards). Ofcourse there was no denying he was in the wrong so everything worked out well but it all could have all been avoided with a bit of common sense

[Pinch]

Usually in these cases its a matter of each pays there own. As you were stationary though it is more her fault so if you had decent damage then it might be worth making a fuss about that fact. Otherwise it would just be a matter of each pays their own.

On the wider issue though, I am a big believer in reversing into a parking spot, rather than reversing out of it. It seems to be much easier to get out and thus far (touch wood) have been able to avoid these sorts of accidents that are all too common. Plenty of people have reversed out after I have started leaving my spot, but I have been able to take quicker evasive action. Is there a reason why hardly anyone parks rear to kerb anymore? It has actually now been mandated in one part of our local shopping strip to limit this kind of thing happening, yet in another carpark close-by there is not the rule, and every few days as I walk past I see a hit or near miss by two reversing cars.