Can I be at fault for a car accident even if I wasn't hit or didn't hit anyone?

Question

We were driving up a side street with parking on both sides. We wanted to park in a spot that faced the opposite direction of which we were driving. To turn around, we turned into an alley. We put our car in reverse, but had not even started moving (if we had it was less than 2 inches and we were still in the alley) when we heard a crash behind us. A van driving down the street and a car coming out of the alley on the other side of the street from us crashed. There was a car parked very close to the alley so he likely was not able to see the van coming before it was too late. Also, since the street is narrow with cars parked on sides, the van was driving in the middle of the road. We backed out and parked and got out to talk to the police. The van asked if we could witness that the car had hit her. Police came and told us that it was an easy case. The car was at fault. Then I got a call saying we were being accused of fault. I think it is the car that is accusing us. Is this right?

To clarify, my car was still completely in the alley when the crash happened and there were cars parked along the sidewalk (giving even more space between my car and the van) so there is no way the van would have had to swerve out of the way to avoid hitting us and then ended up hitting the other car. The van driver also asked us to be a witness for her! She obviously didn't feel at the time that we had contributed to the accident. I also got the call from the insurance agency. I am just worried since the police told us it was cut and dry and since we thought we were only witnesses, we don't have any pictures nor did we get to make official police reports (they mainly just talked to the 2 cars in the crash). The police told us to leave but evidently something must have come up after we had left.

Answer 1

sounds like the car coming from the alley from the other of the street in which (the one you were going to park on while turning around)continued Thur the intersection without yielding prior to proceeding Thur the intersection and hit the van.Hopefully the road you turned into to turn around was not a one way street,with your reverse lights on it may have hampered the on coming cars reaction time to clear the intersection and they maybe trying blame you for contributory negligence.Even so if you were not ticketed don't worry about it,I wouldn't call my insurance yet but if you have an agent you may want to talk to them for advise.You also can use your friends as to what happen if need be.Remember the burden of proof is on them.

Answer 2

If you had made an illegal maneuver, or if someone had thought you made an illegal maneuver, they could accuse you of having been at fault or having contributed to an accident.

This is like on a high speed thoroughfare where everyone is speeding, one vehicle is driving the speed limit, and they blame the slow driver for making the situation more dangerous than it would be if they were also driving too fast.

There are some places that are so congested, with possible traffic coming from different directions, and the usual maniacs who are not paying proper attention, that even if you signal properly, were doing some maneuver that is legal, perhaps you should avoid that method or maneuver.

A little safer than what you did might have been to stop, just passed the alley, signal turn & have your backup lights at same time, passenger get out and wave you into the alley in reverse as being clear, then when you came out again, you would be driving straight into the narrow street.

Reason why I think that is safer is that many motorists drive as if other drivers will never backup, so your backup lights don't really register with them.

People should not park so close to an intersection, be it an alley or driveway such that it makes it impractical for some vehicle to come out of the intersection without seeing around them to what is actually in the cross street, but people do this all the time. When people come to an intersection where they can't see who has right of way, they should not even try to enter the intersection.

There you are in the alley on other side, other car thinks they can go all the way across, because they not paying attention to the notion that you have stopped in the alley, which you have a right to do, but it might not be what they expect.

Comment on what other posters said

I agree that you should call your insurance company to brief them on this ... it will be much easier for them to find the police report.

If you stop on highway, or road, for what other people might think is no reason, then they swerve to avoid you, or crash into the back, that is their fault. I have on occasion felt or heard what I thought was a rattle or a tire going flat, and I have signalled that I am slowing down, then pulled over to side of reoad to stop and examine my car. Other people have ignored my signals, swerved around me, given me the finger ... I stick out my tongue at them and go on about my safety check with the car stopped.

Answer 3

in reality cars, truck, suv's, planes and trains do not talk or have an opinion one way or other. the car's "driver" may very well have the tenacity to get out of bieng at fault and accuse someone else... if you did not back up into the street with the pedal to the metal, then you have nothing to worry about. You might have had a limited visibility of the traffic. Either way it seems that the other driver/drivers on the ""other side'" of the street was not cautious enough. As a mortal human there was not the slightest thing you could have done to prevent the accident on the "other side" of the street...

Answer 4

This is nothing to take lightly. Call your insurance carrier immediately and explain the situation. If the officer wrote someone a ticket for being at fault, things are on your side for now. However, if you get to court and do not have a lawyer, you could find yourself in a predicament. The other person's lawyer could twist things out of context.

Who called you? An insurance rep? If so, give their number to your carrier and they will handle it for you. Your carrier should be able to explain everything to you.

I really cannot see you at fault, but you never know about lawyers.

One more thing, if you stop in the middle of a hwy, for any reason, you are not at fault. If the other person has to swerve to miss you, they were following to closely.

Answer 5

You got a call from who? Unless it was the police or an insurance company, I wouldn't worry about it. It's hard to picture what you are talking about here, but to answer your question, yes, it can be your fault even if not hit or hitting anyone. For example, you stop for no reason in the middle of the highway. The car behind you swerves to avoid hitting you, and has a head on with one coming the other way. You are untouched, but it's your fault nonetheless.

Answer 6

So who called you and who is accusing you of being at fault?

Call the police department and get a copy of the accident report. The car's driver must have gotten your name from either listening in as you gave info to the police or they got your license plate number and had someone run the plate, most likely their insurnace company. The police report will say who is at fault and which insurnace company will pay for the damage.

good luck.

Answer 7

Laws vary from state to state. I live in California and can only go by the laws of our state and from my past experiences here. You have explained yourself very well in my opinion. Personally I don't think you have much to worry about. Yes the police report is the bottom line. I don't feel that you even influenced this accident in any way shape or form. The fact that no contact was made with your vehicle puts you in very good shape. I wouldn't respond to anything other than a summons to court.

Answer 8

Of course the people who caused the accident are looking to blame someone else. Who called you to tell you this accusation?
The Police report is the bottom line.

Answer 9

Without diagrams etc. of what happened, its hard to know if you were at fault, but yes, it is certainly possible to be the cause of an accident when you never actually hit anyone or anything.

For instance, a car may swerve to avoid you because you are not where you are supposed to be and hit someone else.

Answer 10

You can be found at fault if your conduct lead to or increased the chances of an accident. Ask the police that are investigating the accident. They will be able to tell you.