Neighbour reversed into my car, as I was reversing

[Jess92xo]

Thoughts please.

I got into my car on my drive earlier and saw another car coming down the road (slowly as if they were going to park up on that side of the road).

They go past the house opposite and stop, break lights on for what felt like about 20 seconds or so. I then reverse off of my drive until I reach the other side of the road and as I am about to put my car into "drive" and turn my wheel to move forwards, the stationary car starts to reverse with the back of my car right behind him. I beep my horn continuously and he doesn't even look round to my direction. He then hits my car, and even then still doesn't look round! He eventually looks round and looks totally confused.

Turns out he is my neighbour who lives opposite (I haven't met him properly yet) picking up a new car for his daughter.

He doesn't say much but gets out to look at the back of his car. He seemed quite reserved and doesn't admit any fault, neither do I. I told him that he looked parked up as he wasn't moving (I thought he was waiting to pick someone up) so I then thought it was safe to go into that side of the road when reversing.

I am not angry as these things happen but he should have checked all of his mirrors before reversing back, our road is pretty quiet and no one was there 30 seconds or so before he decided to move again. I just can't believe he didn't hear the horn to stop

He seemed quite timid and did said that all is ok and he doesn't want to go via insurance etc (neither damage was bad - just little scratches) so I'm not sure why he said this. But I'm just feeling so stressed out that this happened with a neighbour! Even though it's not my fault, I hate anything like this that makes things feel a bit awkward

I just want to see what others thought who is at fault? I'm very self critical and am now replaying it over and over as to whether I shouldn't of reversed out, but he genuinely looked parked up for what felt like long enough to believe he wasn't about to reverse.

I am the biggest worrier and stress head and came home and burst into tears! My partner couldn't work out why I was so upset and neither can I

No it isn’t.

Can you show us the law requiring you to drive forwards off your drive ? No, you can’t because there isn’t one. Extensively discussed upthread - the advice is to drive forwards if you can, and use caution if reversing. No law exists to compel you to drive forwards because not everyone can reverse safely into their driveway if they live off a main road - imagine stopping in traffic and putting your car into reverse on a main road. It’s ridiculous. Drive down any residential street and I’d bet the farm that most cars are sitting on the driveways facing forwards.

It doesn’t matter. If you were both reversing it’s always 50/50.

Totally wrong. Automatics have a parking brake, it should be used when stopped. The car will not move forward and those behind you will not have to sit there looking at bright brake lights.

It’s in the highway code which insurers and the police have been known to apply. So not illegal if nothing happens but if something happens while you’re reversing off your drive then you are ALWAYS at fault - and if you had a fatality / serious accident while reversing out of the drive you could be jailed for careless driving. The same applies while reverse parking / reversing around a corner.

It’s why you should always reverse into your drive where possible.

Common advice is to use the foot brake when you need to pause or stop briefly (e.g. for traffic lights) but use the parking brake when waiting in traffic or stopping for longer.

In most incidents where a driver is reversing they will be deemed at fault in an accident if they were moving - so no different when backing out of your driveway. But OP said she had finished reversing and was stopped, about to put the car into drive when he began reversing and hit her. If that’s the case and she can prove she was stationary I don’t see how it can be her fault.

RAC advice is that if you’re going to be stopped for longer than 20 seconds you go into neutral and apply the handbrake.

Have you (and other people) ever considered that some people cannot avoid parking forwards on their driveway due to the layout of houses/garden fences etc that would prevent people getting out of their car if they parked forward?
Sometimes it simply can't be avoided.
The highway code does not say "MUST NOT reverse off a driveway".

And yet in an update she said ‘I had stopped and was about to put my car into drive to drive forward.’

This. So many people arguing this point. One quick glance down the average residential street will tell you that most people’s cars are facing forwards. And it’s common for insurance companies to hold the reversing driver responsible in any situation, so I don’t think reversing out of your driveway puts you at any more risk of that.

Regardless of what the insurance would say, in everyday terms it was completely his fault.

You were already moving, so he should have waited until you'd completed your manoeuvre.

But he obviously started moving without even looking in his mirrors. That is extremely dangerous. What if there'd been a pedestrian behind him. And the fact he didn't even stop when you were beeping suggests he wasn't paying due care and attention.

Yes, blah blah, reversing out of the drive isn't the safest, maybe if you'd accelerated off instead of beeping it wouldn't have happened, but the essential fact is, he started moving backwards without looking behind him, and continued to move backwards without looking behind him. And continued moving backwards even when he heard a beep.

Don't feel embarrassed, don't feel bad. Hopefully this incident will be a reminder for him to check his mirrors before he reverses in future.

@Rosscameasdoody seems she's not sure ....

A friend of mine had a situation in her work's car park. She was reversing out of a space when a car came flying round the corner, far too fast, and crashed into the rear of her car.

It went to insurance and it was deemed 50:50 even though she had literally no time to do anything about it.

It was deemed 50:50 because reversing is considered a dangerous manoeuvre.

Similarly, another friend was waiting to turn out of her drive (driving forwards) and a car came round the bend, off the road slightly, and hit the front of her car while she was stationary. Again, she had literally no time to do anything about it.

That too was deemed 50:50 as turning out of your drive is deemed a manoeuvre and therefore increases the risk.

So, while on balance your neighbour should have rechecked his surroundings before moving, an insurance company would likely call it 50:50.

I always turn into the next side st, u turn, come back on my side of the road and reverse in. Just saying, it’s not like reversing across two lanes is the only option.

I've no idea what the law is, but it seems definitely to be safer to reverse into your drive from a main road, than to reverse onto a main road from your drive.

As you're already on the main road you have the opportunity to signal and start slowing down well in advance of your manoeuvre, so that any vehicles behind you have time to react. If you're reversing off your drive you don't have the same opportunity to signal to vehicles on the main road.

So does that mean when you've driven onto your drive you'd need to reverse into a 50mph road to get off??

As a PP said you'd be better to take a roundabout route to make sure your drive is on the side where it's easier to reverse onto.

My parents used to live on a 40mph road and thankfully had the space on their driveway to turn around in before leaving. A couple of times there were too many cars on the drive so I had to reverse out and it was terrifying! I'd dread to think how scary it is reversing onto a 50mph road, and how long you'd have to wait!

BTW - Highway code rule 201:

"Do not reverse from a side road into a main road. When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can."

Rule 202:

"Look carefully before you start reversing. You should:

• use all your mirrors
• check the blind spot behind you
• check there are no pedestrians.

Reverse slowly while:

• checking all around
• looking mainly through the rear window
• being aware that the front of your vehicle will swing out as you turn"

Clearly the neighbour wasn't following rule 202.

Even with dashcam footage proving I was stationary when hit, the third party is denying it and we are going to court.

Which blinds the people behind. Automatics have handbrakes too, they should use them.
Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine!

It'd be 50 50 fault. He didn't look before reversing and you shouldn't have been reversing off your drive as he had right of way. Both cars moving backwards so equal fault.

It is on a main road.

As other's have said, if you were both reversing at time of impact, it's 50/50. You'd have to have stopped reversing and become stationary several seconds before impact for it to be his fault.

What if a child had been behind his car? He didn't bother to look and assumed nobody was there. Assumption is the mother of most FU's.

"Just pass to your insurance and leave them to sort it out."

This seems reasonable. Guess they may say it's 50/50 as you should not have been reversing out of your drive.