car accident,who is to blame

[jas xjr]

a friend of mine called me last night after she had had a little car accident.
she was driving down a poorly lit side road when she hit another car.the car she hit was stationary with a door open.she seems to think the driver of the other car is partly to blame.i think that she should have seen it.what do you guys think?
should add that it was the open door she hit.the only other thing is that both parties are insured with the same company

[Tyre Smoke]

Her fault. She hit a stationary object, end of argument.

[Hooli]

unless the other car door was opened so late she couldnt avoid it its her fault. only hope she has is that the door was opened right in front of her & she had no chance to avoid it. if it was open for ages i suggest specsavers.

[Witchfinder]

You don't open your door into traffic. Door opener's fault.

[jas xjr]

as i understand it the door was already open so she failed to see it.the other lady was putting a child into the car.not clear as to where the driver of the the stationary car was

[Tyre Smoke]

Witchfinder said:

You don't open your door into traffic. Door opener's fault.

Not if the door had been open for a while. As others have said, only mitigation is if door was opened too late for her to miss, but even then it's a bit doubtful because she should be leaving enough room/driving slowly enough to stop.

[jas xjr]

ok cheers

[anonymous-user]

Got to agree with tyre smoke unless it was a last minute thing, speed and distance/obs come to mind,

Might be worth taking it as a lucky lesson only a piece of metal scraped and not the woman ?

[jas xjr]

i have just sent her a txt.she is sure that the poor visibility etc and the other party leaving the door open are contributory factors.but if she did not see the open door,should she be driving?
i have to make sympathetic noises as i am taking her out next week

[Tyre Smoke]

jas xjr said:

i have just sent her a txt.she is sure that the poor visibility etc and the other party leaving the door open are contributory factors.but if she did not see the open door,should she be driving?
i have to make sympathetic noises as i am taking her out next week

Oh in that case, stupid bloody fool for leaving the door open, no wonder it happened, whiplash, bruising, hire car, etc ,etc,

[wrinx]

jas xjr said:

i have just sent her a txt.she is sure that the poor visibility etc and the other party leaving the door open are contributory factors.but if she did not see the open door,should she be driving?
i have to make sympathetic noises as i am taking her out next week

Poor you....poor visibility means slow down and have more chance to see the door open.

Insurers won't listen imho...sorry.

As for next week....show her this thread

wrinx

[henpecked]

Should always leave enough room for the unexpected to happen, or be able to stop.

[Trueman sparks]

yup,

who else can be to blame if you hit something stationary? your either not driving carefully enough in the conditions (assuming it wasn't opened into her) or your eyes are faulty.

the other thing you dont want to hear is "no one usually parks their"!

[jondude]

She is at fault, sorry. ( Unless the door was opened when it was impossible for her to take avoiding action, but even here the odds are bad, as the HC says we should all be aware of the above possibilities and drive past at what was it....3 feet or so??? Agree this is often impossible )

A judge is unlikely to be sympathetic. She starts by blaming the streetlights ( yet bad lighting would mean she should have slowed even more ) and then she says she did not see a parked car with the door open ( cue judge asking how she'd have felt if it was a kid standing by the door ).

Some judges might even push for due care, not least with the ' it was dark, I couldn't see so it is not my fault' line! You either slow right down or stop - for it COULD well have been a kid there.

Nah, it is annoying when someone does as above with the doors, but they did not cause the accident - 'twas the girl drivers lack of awareness.

[ajcj]

Tyre Smoke said:

jas xjr said:

i have just sent her a txt.she is sure that the poor visibility etc and the other party leaving the door open are contributory factors.but if she did not see the open door,should she be driving?
i have to make sympathetic noises as i am taking her out next week

Oh in that case, stupid bloody fool for leaving the door open, no wonder it happened, whiplash, bruising, hire car, etc ,etc,

....and as it happens, I have something here that doctors think improves night vision, if applied internally....

[BMWBen]

Unless the door was opened into the front of her car it's 100% her fault.

GF's sister had a funny one recently too - pulled out into the main road in front of another car. Apparently it's his fault because his indicator was on

Oh the horrible questions about:
a) The highway code
b) proper observation (he's going 50, he's not slowing down, so he's clearly not turning)
c) An apparent lack of instinct for protecting one's life.
d) plain stupidity

that were simply denied and ignored

[Trueman sparks]

ajcj said:

Tyre Smoke said:

jas xjr said:

i have just sent her a txt.she is sure that the poor visibility etc and the other party leaving the door open are contributory factors.but if she did not see the open door,should she be driving?
i have to make sympathetic noises as i am taking her out next week

Oh in that case, stupid bloody fool for leaving the door open, no wonder it happened, whiplash, bruising, hire car, etc ,etc,

....and as it happens, I have something here that doctors think improves night vision, if applied internally....

If she thinks there is nothing wrong with her eyes, an internal spine support unit will stave off any possible whip lash injuries

[Fer]

ajcj said:

Tyre Smoke said:

jas xjr said:

i have just sent her a txt.she is sure that the poor visibility etc and the other party leaving the door open are contributory factors.but if she did not see the open door,should she be driving?
i have to make sympathetic noises as i am taking her out next week

Oh in that case, stupid bloody fool for leaving the door open, no wonder it happened, whiplash, bruising, hire car, etc ,etc,

....and as it happens, I have something here that doctors think improves night vision, if applied internally....

She will never swallow that old story.

[Noger]

Tyre Smoke said:

Witchfinder said:

You don't open your door into traffic. Door opener's fault.

Not if the door had been open for a while. As others have said, only mitigation is if door was opened too late for her to miss, but even then it's a bit doubtful because she should be leaving enough room/driving slowly enough to stop.

Agreed, but you would need a fair amount of evidence that the door had been open for a some time. Not sure, unless there are witnesses, where this would come from. The damage won't tell how long the door was open, just if it was or was opened into the side.

Split liablity ?

[jas xjr]

i think she said the door was already open as the woman had put a baby into the car