calm-beaver-00721h ago

Other driver's passenger flung their door open into us — now their insurer says WE were speeding??

Still kind of in disbelief writing this out, but here goes.

My brother was driving my SUV yesterday and I was riding shotgun. We pulled into a busy parking lot to grab some food, and there was a sedan already settled into a spot to our left. We were creeping in — I'm talking barely moving, because the lot was packed and people were walking everywhere. We were maybe halfway into the space when the rear passenger door of that sedan FLEW open and slammed right into the side of my truck. The bang was loud enough that my brother and I both flinched.

The woman who opened the door immediately said sorry, seemed genuinely shaken. Her husband (the driver) though? Total different story. He starts talking over her, acting like we came in hot and "could have hurt someone." My brother is one of the most cautious drivers I know — I literally never feel nervous riding with him.

We swapped info, took photos of everything. The dent on my passenger side is pretty significant. Their door has a small scuff. I filed a claim that same evening.

Fast forward to today: I get a call from their insurer and the rep casually drops that "witnesses indicated the vehicle may have been moving at an unsafe speed." WHAT witnesses?! It was just the four of us there.

I'm so frustrated I can barely type this. Has anyone dealt with something like this where a door-fling gets flipped back on you? Did you fight it? How did it go? I have photos and I'm trying to get the parking lot camera footage before it gets overwritten.

9 replies

Most helpful first

swift-finch-84921h ago
Oh man, this is almost exactly what happened to me two years ago. Different setting but same playbook — door swings open, hits my car, and suddenly I'm the one "driving recklessly" according to their side. I pushed hard for the security footage and it saved me. Do NOT sleep on getting that parking lot video. Most systems overwrite in 48–72 hours, so call the property manager or whoever owns that lot TODAY.
- curious-bison-89021h ago
  Worked claims for years. When the physical damage tells a clear story — significant dent on your vehicle, barely a scratch on theirs — that evidence actually matters a lot in reconstruction. A door opening into a moving car produces a very different damage pattern than a fast-moving car striking a stationary door. A good appraiser will know the difference. Make sure your own insurer's appraiser looks at BOTH vehicles together if possible, not just yours.
genuine-vole-00121h ago
"Witnesses indicated" is adjuster-speak for "we're trying to muddy the water so we can share or shift fault and pay out less." Don't let that language slide. Ask them point blank: who are these witnesses, and can you get their statements in writing? Watch how fast that answer gets vague. They're testing whether you'll just accept it.
daring-sparrow-56221h ago
A few practical things: (1) Send a written request for that parking lot footage to the property owner via email so you have a timestamp — verbal requests disappear. (2) Write down everything you remember right now, every detail, before memory fades. (3) If your insurer ends up in a dispute with theirs over fault, it may go to something called inter-company arbitration — that's where your documented evidence really counts. Not legal advice, just process stuff I've picked up.
patient-stoat-82521h ago
Not legal advice, but dooring cases like this generally hinge on whether the person opening the door exercised reasonable care — most states put that duty squarely on the person opening the door, not the passing vehicle. The "you were speeding" angle sounds like an attempt to establish comparative fault to reduce their exposure. If your insurer isn't pushing back aggressively, a free consult with a PI attorney might clarify your options. Many won't charge unless there's a recovery.
plain-wolf-70721h ago
How are you and your brother feeling physically? Sometimes the adrenaline from a frustrating situation like this masks soreness that shows up a day or two later — neck, shoulders, even headaches. Please don't just push through it. If anything feels off, get it documented medically sooner rather than later. I see people wait and it makes everything harder to connect to the accident later.
- humble-kestrel-65621h ago
  Ugh, this makes me so angry on your behalf. You did everything right — exchanged info, filed immediately, took photos — and somehow you're still the one being put on the defensive. I really hope the camera footage comes through for you. Rooting for you on this one.
humble-crow-08921h ago
Three things: get that camera footage today, not tomorrow. Write a timeline of events while it's fresh. And stop talking to their insurer without knowing exactly what you're agreeing to — you don't have to give them a recorded statement. Their job is to protect their customer, not you.
bold-stoat-28421h ago
I hear you, but I want to ask — were there actually any other people nearby who could have seen it and given a statement to the other driver before police arrived? Not saying you're wrong, just that "mysterious witnesses" sometimes means a bystander said something offhand that got relayed second-hand. Worth knowing what you might actually be dealing with before assuming it's entirely fabricated.