Who is at fault in an accident when backing out of a parking space?

[2K255HP]

My friend got into an accident in a parking lot. Do we have a no-fault law in parking lots in Calgary?

She was backing up to correct her parking when the car behind her decided she was parked and pulled behind her with her bumper hitting the guys front right fender.

[l/l/rX]

im pretty sure its anything goes in a parking lot. there arent actual set rules for parking lot accidents. and who qualifies who was at fault.

its just something you have to figure out between the 2.

[CivicTunr]

actually, it was posted in another accident thread, that anytime your in reverse your at fault.

[lilmira]

There is no such thing as no-fault rule in any parking lot. Otherwise anyone can just drive a shitty car in there and start a demolition derby without responsibility to any damage.

Parking lot is mostly uncontrolled so it's up to everyone to pay attention to avoid accident. That's why it's usually difficult to determine who's at fault without witness and it ends up with both parties being liable.

Being in reverse doesn't necessarily put you at fault neither. Imagine if you are in reverse and some numbnut decides to ram you at full speed for no apparent reason, who do you think is liable?

It does sound like she is liable from your description. She could have avoided the collision by stopping had she been paying attention. I can't imagine if she was backing up so fast that she couldn't stop the car in time. Did she not notice the other car until she hit it?

[jsn]

Something similar happened to me. I was driving through a parking lot when someone backed up into my car and put a massive dent on the drivers side door. I went to the police and they told me that if we were to take it to the insurance, (almost all of the cases they have seen) it would be split 50/50. Even though it was obviously his fault because he backed up into the side of my car, the police said that they almost always split it 50/50 because as said before, parking lots are mostly uncontrolled. I ended up footing the bill to repair my car, and did not claim insurance as I didn't want my insurance to go up for such a minor iccident. The guy who backed into my car probably knew it was his fault as I never recieved a phone call from him.

[483hp]

Insurance companies usually abide by the rule: reverse = 100% at fault unless there is something unusual about the situation

[Dooms_Bane]

reverse usually = your fault

BUT many of my friends have been reversed into and anything done in a parking lot is 50/50

and always will be 50/50

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by lilmira
There is no such thing as no-fault rule in any parking lot. Otherwise anyone can just drive a shitty car in there and start a demolition derby without responsibility to any damage.

Parking lot is mostly uncontrolled so it's up to everyone to pay attention to avoid accident. That's why it's usually difficult to determine who's at fault without witness and it ends up with both parties being liable.

Being in reverse doesn't necessarily put you at fault neither. Imagine if you are in reverse and some numbnut decides to ram you at full speed for no apparent reason, who do you think is liable?

It does sound like she is liable from your description. She could have avoided the collision by stopping had she been paying attention. I can't imagine if she was backing up so fast that she couldn't stop the car in time. Did she not notice the other car until she hit it?

This post sums it up

Should be the person backing up to wait for the traffic to pass, of course there are cases where the street/ parking lot is way too busy and you just have to get your vehicle on the road.

But what annoys me more is people backing up knowing full well there's a vehicle coming within 5-6 metres, and they're backing up for the sake of being selfish and knowing they're cutting off traffic; and then they take 15 minutes in reverse to turn on their cell phone, put in the DVD for their kids in the back, brush their hair, etc... etc...

[rage2]

Parking lot accidents are usually 50/50, unless you can convince the other guy he/she was wrong and have them sign it.

[bosanel]

IF the person is right behind you and you back into him i think its your fault.

IF the person is out of the way and starts driving the person driving would be faulty cuz he has more clear view.

IMO

Anel

[Arthur Dent]

If you are backing out of a spot - its ALWAYS your fault. A couple years back my wife was reversing out a spot when a guy in a beat up Tempo was doing well over 60km/h in a frigging parking lot hit the back of her. Even though there was huge skid marks from him attempting to slow down it was deemed her fault

[asuth077]

Originally posted by Arthur Dent
If you are backing out of a spot - its ALWAYS your fault. A couple years back my wife was reversing out a spot when a guy in a beat up Tempo was doing well over 60km/h in a frigging parking lot hit the back of her. Even though there was huge skid marks from him attempting to slow down it was deemed her fault

How does that prove its ALWAYS the reversers fault?

This thread has too many conflicting statements. At this point I would just tell the guy you don't think its 100% your fault and then he will have to call his insurance and you'll see.

*edit* If you know your insurance agent just call and ask them. Maybe I just have a good relationship with mine, but when something similar happened I just called and "hypothetically" asked and she didn't seem to really care that I was in an accident, just whether I claimed it or not would affect rates.

[SlowLude]

Different cities usually have different rules. That being said, I completely smashed this ladies side door when reversing out of a parking space at Pacific Mall in Toronto. However, the insurance agent said that since the lot was not the cities' property, it was 50/50. Not sure how it would apply in Calgary. The insurance companies know what to do.

[SCHIDER23]

Yep always 50/50 I know cause I backed into someone by mistake in the parking lot at chinook, we decided not to go through insurance, but once the bill came I said fuck it and decided to go thru isurance instead because the guy was trying to rip me off, insurance agent said it was 50/50 unless there was proof of who was at fault.

[Tik-Tok]

Good grief, how many times must this argument be made on the forum?

PARKING LOTS ARE NOT ALWAYS 50/50!

THE ONE BACKING OUT IS NOT ALWAYS 100%

Each situation is different, and each insurance company treats it differently, and each insurance company adjuster (or whatever you call them) treats it differently. Saying it's always definitely one persons fault is a ridiculous notion.

[tentacles]

One thing I haven't considered until now: What does "50/50" mean? Does that mean I just go fix my car and he goes and fix his, or we total up both our damages and then split both bills 50/50? I don't think if someone hits me in the parking lot in his Enzo I have to pay for half his damage as well, right?

[tylere]

I would say in this situation it would be 50/50, a friend had this exact same situation happen and it was deemed 50/50 since there were no witnesses to prove otherwise.

When your friend goes to get it fixed I would highly recommend staying AWAY from GT Carstar on 9th Ave.......

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by tentacles
One thing I haven't considered until now: What does "50/50" mean?

50/50 means your insurance pays for his damages, his insurance pay for your damages, and both your premiums go up (depending on your insurance company).

If your not going through the insurance company, you typically pay for his damages, and he pays for yours, so if you hit an Enzo... i'd go through insurance.

[SlowLude]

Not in my case. My insurance company paid for my damage and her paid for her's. And as stated by you, depends on the claim amount and your insurance company's policy whether or not your premiums will increase.

Originally posted by Tik-Tok

50/50 means your insurance pays for his damages, his insurance pay for your damages, and both your premiums go up (depending on your insurance company).

[FiveFreshFish]

This is why I always try to:

1. Back into a spot so I can drive out.

2. Drive through and park whenever possible so I can drive out.

3. Park far away so there are fewer cars in the area, regardless of what I'm driving.