Daughter Just Got License and Just Had First Fender Bender

[Bobanan]

My question involves an injury that occurred in the state of: Arizona.

Daughter was leaving a parking lot taking a right hand turn onto the main street.
Across from her was a woman in a truck, turning in left into parking lot.

I wasn't there,
the woman says daughter was sticking too far out in the street, and moved out even more while she was making her right hand turn.

Daughter said she was barely moving out, that the woman cut it too short and hit her front fender on the drivers side.

Woman's car is scratched up on the 2 doors of the drivers side.

Nobody called me, they exchanged insurance information and it's not a big enough dent to call the insurance on, but should I be paying it?
Are we at fault?

[jk]

Time to break out the old magic 8 ball.

seriously, from your description it is impossible to determine, especially with the information as posted.

Did the police respond to the scene?

and not really sure of the positioning of the cars. when you say the woman was across from your daughter, the directions make no sense. What I think you were saying was (and directions are simply used for a basis of reference)


let's say your daughter was facing north and and such, turning right would mean she would be wanting to go east. Now, if the woman was across from your daughter, that implies she was facing south but if she was turning left, she would also end up going east, same direction as you daughter but you said she was entering the same parking lot your daughter was leaving so it makes no sense.

What I suspect:

daughter-same. pointing north turning right (east)

woman facing west turning left (south) into the parking lot.

so which is correct?

[STATcom]

Usually calling your insurance and letting them handle it is a good idea. But if you don't want to deal with the potential increase in premiums, paying the woman off is an easy way to make the problem go away.

However, as far as whether your daughter was at fault, you'd have to provide more information. Right now it just seems like a case of your daughter's word against the woman's. However, since the woman's car was damaged and you didn't indicate that your car has any visible damage, it seems like the odds are weighed against you. As far as your facts show, it seems like it shows that your daughter hit the woman's car and therefore you'd be at fault and responsible for paying.

[Insons Insontis]

Who knows if your daughter was a fault as it is her word against the other driver. It sounds as if the other driver cut the turn too short, which is very common for people to do, especially when pulling into a parking lot. If she had cut the corner too short, then she would have scratches all the way down the side of her car, which from your description sounds like was the case.

If your daughter had pulled out and hit her then it is more likely that the damage would be more localized. It could also be that they were both at fault; your daughter might have pulled out too far and the woman might have cut the turn too short. As one vehicle is virtually motionless waiting for a clear opening into the roadway, it would seem to me that it was the other woman's fault for not taking a wider turn, and thus would not even come close to your daughter's car.

However, since I am assuming that no one called the police, there was no 3rd party to interpret the accident scene, and thus we are left with "she said vs. she said." This is why you should always call the police after a traffic accident, and never move the vehicles, regardless of how many people honk and cuss at you. If you move the vehicles, there is no accident scene left to be interpreted.

I would suggest that both parties pay for their own damages and let it go at that. Another reason to call police is so they can assess injuries and determine whether someone needed medical attention or suffered any likely harm. In this instance, for all you know, the woman went and finished her shopping, started unloading her groceries at home when her husband saw the damages, and they decided that she had whiplash all of a sudden and needed to go to the emergency room. Without a police report and thus an interpretation of the accident scene, it will be your daughter's word against the woman's in court (should this happen) and I would bet money that a jury would believe the more experienced and older driver by default, unless there were obvious signs to indicate otherwise.

Take pictures of the damage, drive to the home of the other woman and take pictures of her vehicle as well, and tell her you are not going to pay for her damages. Next time have your daughter call the police and you, and make sure a proper report is filed so there is some 3rd party to speak to the issue, and check around for witnesses to the accident to see if anyone can give a statement as to what happened or fault.

That is the best I can do with the information you have provided. You can try and bluff her into paying for the damages and see what happens, otherwise you will spend more money and time in small claims court then it costs to repair the damage and move on with your life. You may not call your insurance company, but if the other woman calls hers, then you are going to have a problem. I don't think there is any law in Arizona that requires you to call the police, but it is still a good idea due to civil liability issues, and it may be required depending on the city/town where the accident occurred via a city ordinance, etc.

Need more information, but the best we can do is speculate.

[Who'sThatGuy]

Sounds like a 50/50 fault. The other lady should have waited to proceed into the parking lot if she knew that your daughter was sticking out too far.

[jk]

Sounds like a 50/50 fault. The other lady should have waited to proceed into the parking lot if she knew that your daughter was sticking out too far.

from the description, I believe my second scenario is what was going on. If so, unless the op was sticking her car beyond the lane she was turning onto, the only reasonable situation would be the other driver cut the turn too short and came across the OP's lane. To me, that makes it more than likely the other party's fault.