Brother got into a fender bender.. who's at fault?

[Rogue]

Well, I would say that your brother is more at fault here. His vehicle had foward motion. Saying that the door only damaged the rear portion of the van doesn't really say anything, other than the fact that a) the front part of the van body is tapered and b) the door was already opening when he pulled into the stall. If I had to guess, I'd say your brother was not completely attentive when he was pulling into the stall. I say the door was probably already opening because it caused damage more to the rear of the vehicle and because the driver obviously did not see the vehicle pulling into the stall in the side view mirror. He also should have noticed a person in that vehicle in the first place and been hesitant to pull into the stall until the driver made a move. I'm guessing he never even saw the driver sitting in the seat of the other vehicle. It's kind of like when someone rear ends someone else. It's always the person driving the vehicle with the frontal damage that says the person with the rear end damage was at fault for using their brakes. Every time, the driver with frontal damage gets the ticket for inattentive driving or following to close. I'm guessing that your brother being young and inexperienced has a slightly different view of what occurred on scene and is just a little bit scared about the consequences of it all. If you weren't there and you're basing your post on his side of the story, we're already getting an inaccurate picture of what happened on scene.

 

[Vic]

As the opening door hit the side of the van, clear back at the sliding door, it would seem to me that the other guy is at fault. At the point in time when he opened the door, the front of the van would have already been passed him, and he should have been aware of that. IMO, regardless of the van's movement, this is the virtually the same as creating a door ding, just more serious. Had the situation been otherwise, and the impact would have been at the front of the van (meaning the door was already open before he pulled in), then the accident would have been your brother's fault.

 

[woowoo]

I would sue the restraunt
Their parking spaces are too skiney.....

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: jemcam

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Did the police come? ALWAYS have the police come and look at it. That way if the insurance company says it was X's fault you have what the police says to back you up.

IIRC, police won't come to private property to investigate parking lot accidents. They'll usually just mail a form to all involved.

They came on mine, but they can't issue citations.

amish

 

[Ns1]

this thread is entirely worthless since nobody here is qualified to make an opinion, wait for your insurance company