What Do You Think? Little Shunt In Car Park.

[libspero]

With the view that it was probably not the fault of the reversing car unless they did it very fast or started right in front of the other car. If you're not capable of avoiding cars carefully reversing out of parking spaces you shouldn't be driving and although the points about reversing into spaces makes sense (although that would probably result in more dents if everyone did it due to bad reversing ability) in a supermarket going nose-in is more practical if you're going to be loading the boot up with lots of shopping.

I don't expect insurance companies to act any better than they have done in this case. Scum, the lot of them.

Perhaps you could teach me your technique?

In a situation where you have a white transit van parked next to you (or on both sides to make it particularly tricky), how do you carefully reverse out while being sure you will be able to see all oncoming traffic?

I suspect in this case if the damage had been to the front of the on-coming car rather than the side of it the insurance claim could have gone the other way. I'm sure a large part of it is simply determined by who hit whom. In this case it seems matey reversed into the oncoming car as he was passing so technically he hit it.

[Ascii]

<SNIP>

In this case it seems matey reversed into the oncoming car as he was passing so technically he hit it.

To be fair, I'm pretty certain I was stationary at the point of impact, I was sort of side swiped - the tow bar contacted the other vehicle at the point at which the front profile widened, ie passenger side door. I can't say that with absolute certainty though - I had started to swing the nose around and was checking the position of the nose at the point of impact so would have been either stationary or no more than inching. More likely the former since that's how I tend to work in tight spots. Like I say though can't be certain as it's instinctive now.

Fact is the space behind was clear when I last looked (which was literally milliseconds before impact). Rear of my car was practically level with the dividing white line - I was nearly half way out.

My guess is the other party was "sneaking" round at some speed, that's the only way that I can see that a car could have gone from being not in my field of vision behind the car to being the other side of me immediately after impact. There would have been ample warning that I was reversing (in the order 20-30 secs) and personally I would have waited and let a car out under the same circumstances.

I don't see that I could have done anything differently other than reversing into the bay which is what I'll do in future,

I had 12 years no claims as well.

[albimac]

To be fair, I'm pretty certain I was stationary at the point of impact, I was sort of side swiped - the tow bar contacted the other vehicle at the point at which the front profile widened, ie passenger side door. I can't say that with absolute certainty though - I had started to swing the nose around and was checking the position of the nose at the point of impact so would have been either stationary or no more than inching. More likely the former since that's how I tend to work in tight spots. Like I say though can't be certain as it's instinctive now.

Fact is the space behind was clear when I last looked (which was literally milliseconds before impact). Rear of my car was practically level with the dividing white line - I was nearly half way out.

My guess is the other party was "sneaking" round at some speed, that's the only way that I can see that a car could have gone from being not in my field of vision behind the car to being the other side of me immediately after impact. There would have been ample warning that I was reversing (in the order 20-30 secs) and personally I would have waited and let a car out under the same circumstances.

I don't see that I could have done anything differently other than reversing into the bay which is what I'll do in future,

I had 12 years no claims as well.

I'm afraid you have become part of the statistics, now get your wallet out.

[libspero]

To be fair, I'm pretty certain I was stationary at the point of impact, I was sort of side swiped - the tow bar contacted the other vehicle at the point at which the front profile widened, ie passenger side door. I can't say that with absolute certainty though - I had started to swing the nose around and was checking the position of the nose at the point of impact so would have been either stationary or no more than inching. More likely the former since that's how I tend to work in tight spots. Like I say though can't be certain as it's instinctive now.

It sounds like you were just unlucky. Despite what the holier-than-thou brigade will tell you it is one of those things which can happen to anyone and is really just unlucky. It takes the person driving to not anticipate people manoeuvring out of spaces and it takes the person reversing not to (or not be able to) see them.

It takes two to tango as the saying goes.

When I suggested you technically hit him, I wasn't trying to say you were more at fault.. just piecing together the mechanics of the collision.

I do feel your pain and hope to god the same thing doesn't befall me! Hope your 12 years was "protected"

[Riedquat]

Perhaps you could teach me your technique?

In a situation where you have a white transit van parked next to you (or on both sides to make it particularly tricky), how do you carefully reverse out while being sure you will be able to see all oncoming traffic?

I meant you avoid the cars reversing out, not you doing the reversing.

[Ologhai Jones]

It was Car 3

From the grassy knoll.