So today the wife dropped our eldest at school and on returning to the car she put the youngest back in the back seat when a car pushed past [its narrow and a busy school drop off road] The car clattered our door and drove off. Our car seems ok but when My wife went to see the woman who hit her she went mad about her smashed side mirror.
Addresses have been swapped and the woman is claiming My wife was in the wrong even though there were no cars coming when she opened the doors and as we have 2 kids you cant always load them in from the pavement side.
I dont have any bombers, will fox forks work ok?!!
Seriously anyone know the law? I would have thought if a car is stationary it would not be that cars fault.
Advice please?
Thanks
Sorry forgot to add she wants us to pay the bill for the mirror!

Yes – make the children walk to school

HTH

Thanks sam.

Was she legitimately parked? Or, like most school run mums round here just stopped at the side of the road on double yellows, half on the pavement, but with her hazards on, making everything ok!

If she's legitimately parked then she's not at fault I'd say.

Its fine to park there. The other woman was a mum who parked further up the road.

Morally, this woman could have waited 20 seconds instead of pushing past so she made the decision that caused the damage.

Legally? I doubt anyone would be interested, it's not going to be worth claiming so tell her to **** off.

Yeah, not your fault, you can argue it your way. Don't pay up.

If your car is stationary then i would assume its the other drivers fault, they choice to go through the gap, well thats the common sense thought, im sure it won't work out that way.

Was the door she hit open or closed?
If open, was it still or did your wife or kid swing it out into the path of the oncoming car?

Was wifey double parked or somesuch, in which case other driver needs to prove who parked there first.

Sounds to me like other driver just reacted badly to her own driving error, and wouldn't back down. Silly cow.

Other driver at fault IMHO. Should have/could have waited.

Car door was open i believe, the child was lifted in fully shes too young to get in herself at under 2yrs. From what i have heard the woman pushed past too close too quick and misjudged it. If she had accepted this then there would have been no more to say.

other driver misjudged it.

school run mum, so to be expected really. Give her a kick and put some deep heat in her gusset.

The impatient bint that drove her car through a gap that wasn't as wide as the car is at fault, I'd have said.

Morally, all parents should park a 5 minute walk from their child's school, if they really do need to drive.

If the door was already open and she hit a stationary object then the other driver is at fault no matter how your wife was parked.

Just to clarify. Your wife has the door already open, then someone else drives pastn clouts their wing mirror on the open door and they think its your fault?
Their error, tell 'em to sod off!
Regardless of whether your wife should have been where she was or not, she did nothing to change the situation, the other woman did by driving past. If she hit her wingmirror on a signpost, would she bill the council because it was there? No of course not. She's just trying to blame someone for her **** up.
ourkidsam, so very helpful. Have you thought of a career in the CAB?

Any witnesses? Otherwise the other party will likely say your wife opened the door into her path

If she can't avoid a stationary car I don't hold out much hope for any little children scampering about

Its fine to park there. The other woman was a mum who parked further up the road.

So it was a grudge crash then? 🙂

school run mum, so to be expected really. Give her a kick and put some deep heat in her gusset.

lovely

She does need to drive [well our choices have made this the case!] as she then goes on too work 10 miles away after dropping Second child at my mums. Too balance this i cycle to and from work daily, every day, and pick no 1 son up twice a week and we walk the mile home both days come rain or shine. 😀
Thanks all. I await a phone call tonight.

Other womans husband is at fault for convincing her that his small penis is actually 7" long – she'll always lack spatial awareness until he tells the truth!

What are the odds that the other driver will say the car door swung open into her car as she passed?

As above, seek out some witness if possible, just in case.

SO if she did pursue this, and we dont pay. Would she then have to go through the insurance and pay the excess? Then the insurance would try and claim against us?
THere was a witness but no name and not sure if he was from the school or a passer by.
So we just refuse to pay and leave it in their court?

Even if the car door did 'swing open' for whatever reason and it caught the other car, I'd argue that the driver passing was driving dangerously close to a lone mother on foot with a two year old in her care outside a school. That's Driving Without Due Care at the very least.

(IMHO, etc)

It doesn't really matter what she says – if your wife says she's lying then it's one person's word against another's, and given likelihood of what actually happened (it seems pretty unlikely to me to time the opening of a door so as to take out a wing mirror of a passing car) there's no way she'd win any claim. Tell her to stop being so silly – or possibly something slightly less polite.

So we just refuse to pay and leave it in their court?
Exactly..
Especially based on the bullying nature of the other woman.
Although would not expect it to go to court, as the other woman will just end up paying for her own mirror.

SO if she did pursue this, and we dont pay. Would she then have to go through the insurance and pay the excess? Then the insurance would try and claim against us?

Exactly that. They'd have to claim through their insurance, who would seek recompense through your insurance, who would (all things being equal) tell them to get knotted.

Given that the most I've ever paid for a wing mirror is 100 quid, and given that a lot policies carry an excess around that sort of figure, I'd like to bet that she won't persue it if you tell her to do one. She's just hoping you'll go "oh I'm terribly sorry" and give her some money.

Witnesses?

… which of course then makes me wonder,

Was the damage definitely caused at that point? Was there a broken mirror in the street, or could it be old damage and she's chancing it?

I'd argue that the driver passing was driving dangerously close to a lone mother on foot with a two year old in her care outside a school. That's Driving Without Due Care at the very least.

Why offer advice/opinion then go all IMHO? Has OP even stated where wife and kid were? Your posts on traffic law are nonsense!

My view: depends on whether door open to passing driver or not – i.e. whether she had a chance to avoid it – seems she did, so it's like her driving into a stationary object in full view. Her fault. Can't see how she'd convince her insurers it's anything else either unless she's lying.

Given that the most I've ever paid for a wing mirror is 100 quid

depends on the car – my mates heated , indicatored ,colour coded, folding (only one way) mercedes c200 mirror cost him 500 odd quid after he reversed it into a gate post in rage . steam coming from ears

Seriously anyone know the law? I would have thought if a car is stationary it would not be that cars fault.
Advice please?

My thoughts are that that isn't really the case. I mean if you were say cycling along, and a car driver opened a door into your path, I suspect that you would consider them at fault. Not that I'm suggesting that your wife did something similar, just that the fact the car isn't moving, doesn't automatically absolve someone of fault.

IanMunro is Zaskar and I claim my £5.

Aren't you obliged to drive a certain distance away from parked cars, or is that just widely recommended?

Cops will "do" a driver who opens a door and takes out a cyclist etc. Seems to me if the door has been open for some time then there's a duty on passing drivers to avoid it (just like anything in the road).

But shouldnt you be driving with enough space to clear any potentially opening doors especially when passing rows of parked cars i am sure this will be in the highway code as good advice? Another point regardless of how open the door actually was, there was a mother with a young child at a car door in the road. I would slow down for sure.
Anyway…
Thanks again

Why offer advice/opinion then go all IMHO?

You're asking why I'm providing an opinion, and then marking it as an opinion? You've thought about this, haven't you.

Has OP even stated where wife and kid were?

The OP said "she put the youngest back in the back seat when a car pushed past… Car door was open i believe, the child was lifted in fully shes too young to get in herself" – it seems fairly obvious to me where they were.

Your posts on traffic law are nonsense!

My posts on traffic law are "as I understand it." I never claimed to be a legal expert, I'm just providing ideas. If someone wants 100% accurate legal advice rather than opinion and discussion, I'd respectfully suggest that perhaps a mountain biking forum isn't the ideal place to be asking the question.

My view: depends on whether door open to passing driver or not

I don't agree. If the oncoming driver can see a mother loading up her car, she shouldn't have been so close to them. But like your post, that's just my opinion.

there was a mother with a young child at a car door in the road. I would slow down for sure.

… this is where I'm coming from. If it happened as described, the door is irrelevant.

From the insurance point of view it will go 2 ways, ethier they will accept yours or hers version of events, if both conflict then you get stuck in the situation i was a few years ago.

I hit another vehicle, i know my fault i hit it, but he did an illegal turn, didn't stop to see if anyone was coming just span round and we went head on at 30mph, about £1k worth of damamge to my car and a fair chunk to his company van, i got witnesses and also cctv footage of the event, he claimed i was in the wrong, i claimed he was. Neither of us won, my insurance paid for my repair his insurance paid for his, i had an accident logged on my insurance as disputed, even though not my fault, only just cleared last year.

THere was a witness but no name and not sure if he was from the school or a passer by.

Identify the witness.