Who is at Fault if You Run into a Illegally Parked Car?

This is a common site on many streets, seeing a illegally parked car, sometimes blocking a driveway or blocking park of the street. What would happen if I hit this car? Would I be at fault, since I hit them, or would they be at fault since they were illegally parked?

The answer to this question is surprisingly straight forward. If you hit a car parked illegally, it is your fault. You will be fully liable for the damages, to their car as well as to your own car.

The reasoning behind this is that you are responsible, when driving your car, for your surroundings and environment. Since the car is parked, and is not moving, it is part of the environment regardless if it is parked illegally! You would be negligent by not being aware of your surrondings and would be therefore found liable

If you just have liability insurance, the property damage portion fo your insurance will cover damages to the car that is illegally parked. To repair the damages that your car sustains, you will need to claim on your comprehensive or collision portion of your auto insurance, if you have those coverages on your policy. If you do not have those coverages, then you will have you will have to pay for the damages out of pocket.

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