Discussion
Personally i'd say the car that tried to squeeze past is at fault. You've got to realise that a driver reversing out of a space has limited visibilty, and may not be looking in your direction.
Owl's have overcome this visibility issue, by being able to twist their heads 180 degrees. Unfortunately not a single Owl has ever passed a driving test.
Owl's have overcome this visibility issue, by being able to twist their heads 180 degrees. Unfortunately not a single Owl has ever passed a driving test.
road hog said:
if i see someone reversing out of a parking bay , i stop and wait for them to get out of the way,
If I'm reversing out of a space and I see another car coming then I stop and wait for them to either aknowledge me and give me priority or wait for them to pass.However I usually reverse into parking spaces in car-parks, partly to avoid these scenarios.
JM said:
However I usually reverse into parking spaces in car-parks, partly to avoid these scenarios.
This is the best way to avoid the issue entirely. Although it does make getting a trolley to the boot a pain in the arse. I think the highway code would (perhaps naively) tell you that you should never park in such a way that you wont be able to see whether it's clear to set off again.
...and when exiting the space you reversed into that puts you facing forward so if a car is coming from either left or right you would normally wait for them to pass unless they stop and let you out.
I think initially in this case the driver reversing out of the space is at fault because regardless of whats coming he has to stop. He should also be looking everywhere to make sure it's clear for him to manouvre.
If however he is so far out of the space that any driver coming from the left or right would have to stop becuase they way is blocked they might be deemed irresponsible and at fault for continuing on despite the reversing obstacle that they have no way of passing without making contact.
I think initially in this case the driver reversing out of the space is at fault because regardless of whats coming he has to stop. He should also be looking everywhere to make sure it's clear for him to manouvre.
If however he is so far out of the space that any driver coming from the left or right would have to stop becuase they way is blocked they might be deemed irresponsible and at fault for continuing on despite the reversing obstacle that they have no way of passing without making contact.
GSP said:
This is the reason my large workplaces specify that you should always reverse park... so you can clearly see when pulling out of the space.
I'm often the only person to reverse park at work in a car park of about 30 cars. I've no idea why - I much prefer being able to leave quicker than arrive quicker 
Anyway, I seem to remember during my driving lessons that it's the person carrying out a manouver that takes responsibility. If somebody turned up while I was doing a parallel park, for example, I would have to stop and wait for them to decide whether to continue or not.
Applying that to the OP's case, the person reversing out of the parking space is more at fault.
However, in reality I'd imagine that's impossible to enforce so it'll probably go down as 50:50.
Also, my driving instructor was dreadful so maybe I was just taught wrong

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