In our article we will talk about one of the most common types of road accidents - the so-called “door accidents”. This is the name for incidents in which the driver of one vehicle, without looking in the rearview mirror, opens the door, and another car drives into it, or when a car owner opens a car door in a parking lot and it hits a neighboring car.
If you take a closer look at the cars driving along the streets of your city, you will easily understand that this type of incident is the most common. After all, quite characteristic damage to the doors remains - dents, scratches.
Today we will talk about whose fault it is in this type of accident, who should compensate for the damage caused, and how the victim should act. So let's get started.
What to do if you scratch someone else's car with a door
If, leaving a shopping center, you approach your car and when opening the door you accidentally hit a neighboring car, then in this case you cannot talk about a traffic accident. Because this concept implies causing damage while moving, and none of the cars were moving.
What can be done in such a situation?
The most correct decision would be to agree with the victim on voluntary compensation for the damage caused. And under no circumstances try to leave the scene of the accident.
If you or the victim have a CASCO agreement, then you need to inform the insurance company about what happened and find out what needs to be done to compensate for the damage.
Any traffic accident is a stressful situation, both for the perpetrator and for the victim. Therefore, do not aggravate the conflict with insults. In any situation, remain human.
If you “caught” a pedestrian, then the situation is much more serious, since there is a threat to human life and health. It all depends on the severity of the injuries inflicted on the person.
If there is no damage, then the solution is simple. However, be considerate of the injured person and offer them a ride or other assistance.
If a pedestrian is inflicted with some, even minor, injuries, then under no circumstances give in to panic and do not leave the scene of the incident, even if you are sure that it is not your fault.
In such a situation you need:
- call the police and summon them to the scene of the incident;
- if necessary, call an ambulance for the victim.
If the victim says that everything is fine with him and refuses to call an ambulance or the police, take a receipt from him about this.
After all, if the next day the police come to you and report that you hit a person, caused him many injuries and fled the scene, you will have a way to prove that you are right.
In general, it would be better to call the police, even if the victim refuses. They will draw up all the necessary documents, record the testimony of all witnesses, and this will protect you from adverse consequences.
Legal accident
There are often situations when passengers are in too much of a hurry to get out of the car and literally jump out at the first stop. This is what children do when they are rushing to school or sports classes. Even adults don’t like to wait when they want to quickly make purchases in the store. The passenger cannot see the cars behind him, and he often does not listen to the driver’s commands. In this case, the door swings open unexpectedly for other road users, and there is a possibility of an accident. Most often this happens on narrow streets, where there is little space for oncoming traffic and parked cars are forced to huddle in the middle of the road.
In addition, the door hits passing cars in supermarket parking lots.
Traffic rules give a clear answer to what an accident is. In accordance with paragraph 1.2 of the traffic rules, “a traffic accident is an event that occurred during the movement of a vehicle on the road and with its participation, in which people were killed or injured, vehicles, structures, cargo were damaged, or other material damage was caused.”
Thus, any collision with a moving car is legally considered an accident, and it must be registered with the help of traffic police officers or resort to other legal means, for example, picking up a European protocol.
Traffic regulations prescribe a number of responsibilities for drivers in the event of an accident with a moving vehicle. Paragraphs 2.5, 2.6 and 2.6.1 of the Traffic Regulations set out the procedure for the actions of the culprit of the accident and the victims. Necessary:
1. Stop the car and do not leave the scene of the accident until the documents are completed.
2. Turn on the “hazard warning lights” and put up a warning triangle.
3. Call the traffic police and get instructions for further actions.
4. Take photographs or video of the circumstances of the accident and damage.
5. If the car creates obstacles for passage, remove it (after performing step 4).
6. Wait for the traffic police inspectors, draw up a European protocol or negotiate with the victim directly about compensation for damage, for which you take a receipt.
Question answer
What size should parking spaces be by law?
Is it worth calling the DPS if your car is scratched by a door?
If the damage caused to the car is minor, and both drivers agree to resolve the issue on the spot, then you really shouldn’t call the traffic police. Firstly, waiting for them will take you a lot of time, and secondly, much more time and nerves will have to be spent during the administrative proceedings.
But in the case when the car was damaged while in the parking lot and the second car also did not move (the driver opened the door and hit a neighboring car), the traffic police inspector will not come to you, because such an incident does not apply to road traffic. In this case, the damage will be recorded by the local police department, so you need to contact them there.
What to do if your car is scratched in the yard?
What to do if you hit a car in a parking lot and drive away, read here.
In which case you can leave the scene of an accident, read the link:
Why do many people leave the scene of an accident in the yard?
Due to the fact that such accidents are truly minor, they are often not given much importance and people simply drive away. This is done not only by beginners, but also by experienced drivers. It also happens that the driver simply does not notice the contact. But this does not exempt you from liability, because according to the law, the culprit of the accident fled the scene of the crime, which is an aggravating factor.
The peculiarity of such an accident is that the victim is usually not there, which also “motivates” the perpetrator to hide.
They hit a car in the yard and disappeared - the most detailed analysis of the topic
Hitting the door in the parking lot accident
Various door impacts and other similar situations on the parking lot fall under Art. 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation “Compensation for damage”. However, in order to accurately qualify the situation that has arisen, calling the traffic police crew is advisable.
Since only they will issue a conclusion that a specific situation falls into the category of an accident or is regulated by other applicable legislative norms. But you can do it on your own if the driver is sure that he has all the necessary knowledge and is able to assess what happened in accordance with the regulations governing such situations.
If you return but the victim has left
After an accident, the culprit returns to the scene of the accident, but the one he hit has already left. In such a situation, even an experienced driver will be confused. The first thing you need to do is find out whether the accident was registered in your absence. If this happened, then you should look for ways to avoid punishment for concealment; if there were no employees, then you don’t have to worry.
If the victim left the scene of the collision, then he, in fact, also disappeared, so registering an accident in this case will not be beneficial to anyone. To ease your conscience, it is better to meet with this person and agree on compensation for the damage.
What should you do if you hit another car in a parking lot with your door?
The point is the dent. I realized that the wait could be a long time, and apparently the car was not from local residents. left, ordering his wife to keep an eye on him. Closer to 3 pm a body appeared. I left a note indicating the phone number and a desire to resolve the issue, indicating that I would not restore the door for free. If he doesn’t call by evening, I’m going to write a statement.
I hit a car in the yard and drove away - a fairly common situation on our roads. And despite the minor damage, you will have to bear the full penalty for leaving the scene of an accident, which means deprivation of your driver’s license for more than a year.
As for the fault of the other driver, it is not clear from your description whether the second driver violated anything. I recommend that you study all his actions immediately before the accident (pay attention to violations of road signs and markings, speeding) and try to find violations in them.
Sometimes it happens that a person is stopped by traffic police officers and they say that his car is on the wanted list, since he disappeared for a week (two days, a month, two months) after an accident. This driver, replaying memories in his head, recalls that at the indicated time he was actually in the indicated place, turning around tightly parked cars, but did not think that he damaged any of them.
Court of the Russian Federation, the main criterion defining the concept of a source of increased danger is its creation of an increased likelihood of causing harm due to the impossibility of complete human control, and the action of a source of increased danger is the manifestation of its harmful properties.
Actions not related to contact with another vehicle are classified as intentional damage to property. We turn to the local police officer for help.
The insurance company can present compensation to you (the owner of the car) through court or through a settlement agreement. You will still have to pay if you are found guilty. But you can quite agree with the insurance company on installment payment.
It will be good if you can find witnesses to the incident and/or video footage. Video cameras can include recordings from video recorders of cars parked nearby, as well as surveillance cameras on nearby buildings. Such “evidence” can greatly facilitate the search for the culprit.
The insurance company can present compensation to you (the owner of the car) through court or through a settlement agreement. You will still have to pay if you are found guilty. But you can quite agree with the insurance company on installment payment.
Nothing to do. This is not an accident in accordance with clause 1.2 of the Road Traffic Rules of the Russian Federation (approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers - Government of the Russian Federation of October 23, 1993 N 1090), so only compensation for damage by the passenger is threatened in accordance with Article 15, 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. You are in no danger. An accident is when damage is caused while a vehicle is moving. If the damage was caused while the car was stationary, then it is not an accident.
Is it possible to receive compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance and how?
Immediately, Alexander looked out the window and saw another Toyota car standing next to his car on the driver’s side with the driver’s door open. Then the driver of the Toyota car slammed his door, quickly reversed and parked nearby in another place.
Police officers inspected the scene of the incident, after which a decision was successfully issued to refuse to initiate a criminal case, which, in fact, was to be expected.
I parked. In a free place. You can easily get out of the next car without embarrassment, but you have to hold the door. There were 3 people in the car. I stood as far away as I could intentionally. A couple of hours later, the alarm key fob—the shock sensor—triggered. Out the window - there’s a guy walking between cars.
Any traffic accident is a stressful situation, both for the perpetrator and for the victim. Therefore, do not aggravate the conflict with insults. In any situation, remain human.
Is a parking lot accident a traffic accident?
An accident is a road traffic accident in which a vehicle collides with another vehicle, or a stationary object is hit. All specialists in this field, from auto lawyers, lawyers, accident experts and ending with insurers, interpret this legislative norm in practice in the same way. The interpretation looks like this: any collision caused by one or more vehicles that occurs both on the territory of a highway and on the adjacent road infrastructure, which includes parking, can be classified as an accident.
Attention! If you have any questions, you can chat for free with a lawyer at the bottom of the screen or call Moscow; Saint Petersburg; Free call for all of Russia.
In order to classify an accident into this category, it is necessary to take into account such indicators as: the nature of the impact, its cause, the scale of the damage caused. Therefore, for example, the impact of the door of one vehicle on another will not be classified as an accident in a parking lot. In this regard, if such a situation arises, it is necessary to resort to the legislative norms specified not in the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”, but those prescribed in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Ways to resolve the situation
In order to resolve the situation with a scratch (dent) from an open door and at the same time not part with your hard-earned money, you can stage an accident, park the cars nearby and call the traffic police officers to draw up a report.
In this situation, an accident is automatically recognized, which is an insured event under compulsory motor liability insurance; you can also independently draw up a Europrotocol without the participation of law enforcement officers. Then submit information about the incident to the insurance company and receive compensation for damage.
