Who was in the wrong? (car accident related)

[QuestionableMouse]

Out with my friend in her car today. She's a fairly new driver and has black box insurance.

We came to a blind bend with a car parked in our lane on double yellow lines. Friend moved over and drove around the car at probably 10 mph.

A car coming the other way clipped her car and has done quite a bit of damage to the front end. The car was doing 20mph roughly which is the speed limit.

My friend clipped the parked car and took the wing mirror off, doing some damage to the bumper too.

Both drivers are blaming my friend (she's the youngest/least experienced driver.)

I say the parked car driver is at fault because they were parked on double yellow lines and if they hadn't been there the accident would never have happened.

All been referred to the insurances of course, including pics of the parked car.

I'm feeling very stiff and achy and will probably miss work tomorrow (it's aggravated my already bad back) and poor friend is really upset and shaken.

I work as a claims investigator and as the majority of others have said, the fault lies with your friend.

If your friend couldn't have seen around the parked car regardless of how careful they were because it was a thought blind bend and she had no choice than to go into the other lane then the parked car is at fault.

vdb If your view is so obscured that you cannot process without causing an accident then you don’t just drive forward anyway.

Vbdfamily, yip blind bend is why cars have horns, the insurance companies will lay the blame on the friend!

Be interested to know what the insurance companies decide

I have been in your friend's shoes, some twats like to park where its so dangerous, one even pointed to his blue badge, but nobody is allowed to park where it puts others at risk.
I was lucky unlike your friend, hope the pics show how the car was parked, although still don't know which way it will go cause the obstruction was on your side.

OP if what you are really worried about is claiming damages from your friend. Talk to her, ask if she minds you claiming her insurance for any days you can't work and lost income?

I wouldn't try to claim if you aren't going to actually lose income.

I agree with most others that your friend was at fault.
OP couldn’t you have got our and walked around the corner to indicate when it was clear?

I also think the fault was with your friend. She should have stopped behind the parked car and asked you to hop out the car and wave her on around it when there was no one coming round the blind bend. If she’d been driving alone, she should have turned around, and gone another way and called in the reg plate of the illegally parked car.

Anytime you leave your lane it’s your responsibility to ensure there is no one coming.

Btw side question can’t blue badge holders park on double yellows for a few hours legally?

Put it through the insurance- if you have details of both cars and photos her insurance many be able to work on 50/50 with the parked car as it was illegally parked on a blind bend. Ultimately though it’s likely to fall on her.

Sorry but it's probably going to end up being blamed entirely on your friend.
I'm a relatively new driver and made sure I got a dashcam as soon as I started driving as I know that anything that happens would be blamed on me.

Hope your back is ok OP. I was in a car that got rolled into from behind while static and my back was a mess for a few weeks afterwards as I had existing back problems. Ignore the comments about compo, seems to be an assumption rude folks make a lot.

Almost the exact same thing happened to my son, except that the oncoming car who hit him came at speed, and then didn't stop.
Police suggested probably no insurance.
Upshot is that it was still my son's fault.

this was a BLIND BEND. Parked car totally at fault

It's still not the cars fault, legally speaking. He could have broken down there, for example. It doesn't matter that it's an illegal place to park - the driver of the moving vehicle is responsible for avoiding hazards in the road.

Only if they're not causing an obstruction. My mam has a blue badge and got a ticket recently because she'd parked in a bit of an awkward spot (though it wasn't dangerous).

My mam has a blue badge and got a ticket recently because she'd parked in a bit of an awkward spot

The car might be parked illegally and appropriate action could still be taken with regards to that, but that doesn't mean they caused the accident.

Because the obstruction was on her side and the oncoming car would have rounded a bend to find her car unexpectedly in their lane, the fault does lie with your friend. She didn’t have much choice but to pass the car but should have ensured the lane was clear and not crept past the parked car at 10mph, thereby putting herself on the wrong side of the road for longer and making herself a danger to others. The parked car was parked in a shit location but was stationary.

All these people saying she should have waited until the road was clear must be still sitting in their cars waiting at blind bends now. In some instances you just cant see until you go for it. However I would go a bit faster than 10mph to try and get round and out of the way quicker.
Although i disagree with people saying she was meant to wait until she knew the road was clear, your friend is still at fault i think.

if you broke down on a blind bend, would you not be expected to put warning triangles either side of the incident or is that just France? Do we know if she tooted?? If she had been alone she could not have sent a passenger to look so what would happen in that situation? Poor friend....will put her off driving but at least she has learned an early lesson in how not to park.

I know it is more awkward if your friend is at fault, but if your injury has flared up you will need to make a claim. You won't get much - but it will be enought to cover private physio appointments.

Car should not have been on double yellow lines but it was stationary. The fact your friend was mostly past the parked car when the other car came would mean some liability on the other driver if there were bully boy tactic - it depends where the damage on the stationary car was - if wing mirrors clipped this would indicate she was not mostly past it..

Could go fault or 50/50. She was taking care but rightly or wrongly, the obstruction was on her side of the toad. I haven’t read all posts, but if I were her I’d definitely get a front and rear dash cam. No disputing that. If the oncoming vehicle was speeding or acting without due care and attention, then it could not be disputed.

*road

It's unfortunate that your friend was in an accident but the fact that she hit both the parked car and the oncoming vehicle says that she maybe didn't leave enough room to pass the stationary car anyway, even if the oncoming vehicle wasn't there.

if you broke down on a blind bend, would you not be expected to put warning triangles either side of the incident or is that just France?

Uk drivers aren’t required to carry warning triangles.

if you broke down on a blind bend, would you not be expected to put warning triangles either side of the incident

No. It's not a requirement to carry warning triangles here. I've seen them used before but I live rurally so there are loads of narrow roads and blind bends.

The other car coming towards you should have been going slow enough to be able to stop. So if it was clear when you pulled out and then they came round the bend I say it’s their fault.