Who's at fault for a car hitting an illegally parked car?

Question

Who's at fault, is it the hitter or the hittee?

Answer 1

The person who struck the parked vehicle is at fault.  It does not matter if it illegally parked.  However, the claims adjuster may consider some comparative negligence and reduce any potential settlement the illegally parked vehicle may be entitled to.  In some states, even 1% negligence is a bar to recovery.

Answer 2

If the other car was parked --- the moving vehicle is at fault. The parked car is a fixed object that is there to be seen.

There is no "but he should not be there for me to hit" defense.

Answer 3

Anyone who hits a stationary object is at fault...and probably shouldn't be driving to begin with .

Answer 4

The car the was MOVING is always at fault.  At least in Ohio, we have a law called 'assured clear distance'.  It basically says if you can't stop in the distance you can see, you are breaking the law.

Answer 5

Hmm, dont agree with the last one there because people who drive cars are not children, thats different.

I was at work the other day and our delivery lorry reversed into a brand new BMW, but it was illegally parked. Right away everyone agreed that it was the ilegally parked cars fault because they should not have been parked there in the first place. If a traffic warden was to pass, they would have ticketted the car.

This really is not solving your answer, but i just wanted to tell my story :-).

Maybe you should also put this question under "Law".

Answer 6

The parked car didn't cause the accident, did it?

The law says "You can't hit a parked car, and if you do you're at fault" NOT "You can't hit a parked car, unless of course it's illegally parked, then it's okay."

Children aren't supposed to play on the road, but you can't hit them either.

Answer 7

My uncle died from hitting an illegally parked car -

His widow got sued - :(

I'm not sure the outcome of the lawsuit.