humble-seal-0905/10/2026

Fender bender in a crowded lot — now both of us are pointing fingers. Who's actually wrong here?

So this happened a few days ago and I'm still kind of shaken up trying to figure out if I did something wrong.

I was leaving a spot at a busy shopping center — one of those really tight lots where everyone's jockeying for position. I had already cleared most of my spot and was pretty well into the lane when another car came flying around the corner and clipped my front bumper on the driver's side. Like, I was out. I wasn't still tucked in the space creeping backward — I was moving and visible.

The other driver immediately hopped out saying I "came out of nowhere" and that it was my fault for backing up. But I feel like once you're that far into the travel lane, the person driving through the lot has some responsibility to be watching for moving vehicles too, right?

We exchanged info. No police came out because neither of us called — honestly didn't think to at the time, which I'm now second-guessing. There's minor damage on my car but it's not nothing. The other driver has already called my insurance and given their version of events.

Is there some general rule about who has right of way in a parking lot lane vs. a backing vehicle?
Does it matter how far out I was when contact happened?
Should I have called the police even for something that felt "minor"?

I really don't want to get stuck eating this if I wasn't actually at fault. Any insight from people who've dealt with something similar would really help right now.

9 replies

Most helpful first

warm-fox-6265/10/2026
Ugh, I went through almost the exact same thing last year. The other driver also tried to pin it on me just because I was the one backing up. What ended up helping me was that there was a camera on the side of a nearby store that caught the whole thing. Definitely worth checking if there's any surveillance footage in that lot before it gets overwritten — most systems only keep it for a week or two.
bright-sparrow-1465/10/2026
Be really careful about what you say to the other person's insurance company. They're going to call you and sound super friendly and reasonable, but their job is to get you to say something that shifts more fault onto you. You are not required to give a recorded statement to their insurer. Talk to your own carrier first and honestly consider getting a lawyer involved before you say anything to the other side.
tidy-marmot-0815/10/2026
Former adjuster here. Parking lot claims are genuinely complicated because most states treat them as a shared-fault gray area almost by default. That said, how far out you were does matter. If you were clearly in the travel lane and the other car was moving too fast to stop, adjusters are trained to look at that. The problem is it usually comes down to your word vs. theirs unless there's physical evidence or a witness. Start thinking now about whether anyone was around who saw it happen.
- mellow-grouse-2145/10/2026
  Not legal advice, but parking lot fault questions are very fact-specific and vary by state. Generally speaking, a driver in the travel lane does have some duty to operate at a safe speed and watch for hazards — including vehicles that are already in motion. Being "the one backing up" doesn't automatically mean you're 100% at fault. If the other driver is already contacting your insurer, it might be worth at least a free consultation with a PI attorney just to understand your position before things get decided without your input.
daring-wolf-1795/10/2026
A couple of practical things: First, write down everything you remember right now while it's fresh — the time, the layout of the lot, how far you were out, what the other driver said on scene. Second, go back to that parking lot and photograph the spot, the lane width, sight lines, everything. That context can actually matter later. And yes, not calling police is pretty common for minor collisions, but if there's any injury at all — even something that feels minor now — that changes things.
clever-wolf-0855/10/2026
How fast were you going when the impact happened? And was the other car coming from a main lot entrance or just cutting through lanes? I ask because there's a difference between someone navigating the lot normally and someone who was genuinely moving recklessly. The details matter a lot here.
kind-raven-3495/10/2026
Just want to flag — even in low-speed collisions, adrenaline can mask pain really effectively for 24-48 hours. If you feel any stiffness in your neck or back in the next couple of days, please don't brush it off. See a doctor and make sure it gets documented. I've seen people wait too long and then have a much harder time connecting the injury to the accident.
hearty-tern-2805/10/2026
I'm so sorry this happened to you. It's so stressful when you feel like you did nothing wrong and suddenly you're being blamed. Please don't try to handle the insurance stuff alone — at least talk to someone who knows how this works before you agree to anything.
calm-mole-8105/10/2026
Here's the bottom line: stop talking to anyone except your own insurance company until you know where you stand. Don't post about this on social media. Grab photos of the damage today if you haven't already. And look into a free consult with a PI lawyer — most offer them and it costs you nothing to understand your options.