Who is at fault? (reversing accident)?

Question

i was in a car park and i had just passed a free spot so i was stopped to the left with reverse lights on and my right indicator on to say i was going to reverse into the spot on my right. a car passed me but after this there was no one coming so i started reversing into the spot. just before i entered the spot, i heard someone beep their horn, but thinking it wasn't for me i continued to reverse. i bumped into the car behind me, leaving in the paintwork of that car and a dent in the back of mine. i'm curious as to whether the accident is actually my fault, as when i began reversing, there was nobody behind me, and whilst the other driver beeped to tell me to stop, they failed to leave me enough room to reverse in the first place. there were no witnesses. the other driver wants me to pay for their damage. i have insurance, they do not, and their licence was expired at the time of the accident (although keep in mind, this does not automatically make then at fault). any ideas as to whether i am actually at fault and should i have to pay for their damage? (if i'm not at fault, i'm not necessarily intending on getting the damage fixed.)

Answer 1

your at fault...you backed into them.  sorry

Answer 2

You are at fault. In almost every state if you back into a car you are at fault, period. If the driver of the other car beeped their horn at you then that means they saw you coming and were most likely stopped and not even moving during the time of the accident and hitting a parked/stopped car would also most likely be your fault in most instances as well. There is no excuse for you not seeing this car before hitting it. You should always be looking at where you are going. Especially while backing up!!! This car could have just as easily been a person or even a child walking in the parking lot!!! Next time if you hear a horn you should pay more attention as to where it is coming from and why someone is honking! Overall accidents do happen but for you to say 'it was clear before I started backing up' is just wrong. You should have been looking to make sure it was clear WHILE you were backing up! Dont be lazy. Use your mirrors and turn your head and look behind you. Always remember that the car you are driving can easily kill someone within seconds if you are not paying attention.

***I was once called to the scene of an accident where a guy had literally completely backed over his young son. They had a very, very steep driveway and there was no way to really back down it safely so in order to park at the top of the hill where their house was they would need to back up the steep driveway in order to safely drive back down the hill when needed. The man's truck was originally parked at the foot of the hill but he need to unload some stuff into the house. So he walked down the hill got in his truck and began to back up the hill. Hitting his son in the process. All he could say afterwards was 'the driveway was clear when I walked down to my truck' over and over again. He just figured that the drive would still be clear not even a minute later. He never even bothered turning his head back while backing up the hill. He just glanced in his mirrors enough to make sure he was lined up properly. He never figured that his 9 year old son who should have been doing his homework up stairs at the time would have come zipping out of the garage into the driveway on his mini go cart at the exact same time of him backing up. But the boy did and the man didnt realize it until it was too late. By the time I had gotten there the boy had almost completely bleed out and his neck was snapped. The poor boy didnt even make it through the night. He died at the hospital just a few hours later. AND IT ALL COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF HE WOULD HAVE JUST LOOKED BACK!!! And the saddest part was that the dad knew it too. Just a few seconds of laziness or complacency or whatever you want to call it was enough to take away a life and to change a family forever. There other son was just 6 and had watched to whole thing from their 3rd floor balcony. He's actually the one who ended up calling 911. The boy never got over it and always blamed his dad for killing his brother and the family slowly got torn apart. The father just wasnt the same after that and the mother eventually took the kids and left. Exactly three years later to the day I was called back to that house to find that the man had committed suicide by shooting himself in his head in that very same driveway where he killed his son. Before this they were a great family. They were very active in the community, they lived in a beautiful multimillion dollar home and were friends with everyone in town and all of that was ruined in seconds. I cant stress enough just how important it is to always be looking where you are driving! Especially while backing up!

You were in a parking lot where people walk to and from their cars. You must ALWAYS be paying attention.

Answer 3

You are at fault.

The other driver has no legal obligation to leave you room to back up.  On top of that, he honked to let you know he was there and you ignored it.

You have duty to make sure the way is clear when start to back AND while backing. Apparently it was not clear -- you backed into the car.

Report the claim to your insurance company and give them all the information for the other driver so they can contact him and take care of the damage.

You are legally responsible for the other cars damages.  

Answer 4

Simple:  You were moving, they were not.  You are at fault.  Unsafe backing  You should notify your insurance company, however and let them decide it you should pay.  If they don't and you are sued for damages, I am afraid you would lose.

Answer 5

Unfortunately you are at fault for the incident.