Parked car got sideswiped by a vehicle towing a trailer — driver says it's MY fault??
Hey everyone, hoping to get some outside perspective because this whole situation has me spinning.
My car was parked on a side street last week while I ran into a shop for maybe five minutes. Hazards were on, car was off. A pickup truck towing a large flatbed trailer came around the corner and the tail end of the trailer swung wide and scraped all along the driver's side of my car — we're talking door, rear quarter panel, side mirror, all of it.
Here's where it gets frustrating: the driver of the truck jumped out immediately going on the offensive. Said I was parked too close to the intersection and that the whole thing was my fault. He was loud about it in front of everyone standing around. I'll admit I wasn't perfectly centered between the lines — maybe a foot or two closer to the corner than ideal — but my car was completely still and his trailer took out a huge chunk of my paint.
So now I'm dealing with both our insurance companies and getting kind of vague answers. My main worries:
- Can being slightly too close to a corner actually flip fault onto me even though I was parked and stationary?
- Does the fact that he was towing something change how liability gets looked at?
- His aggressive attitude at the scene — does that even matter once it gets to claims?
- What does this kind of claim actually look like when it settles?
I have photos, a witness who stuck around, and the full police report. I'm not trying to be unreasonable but I also don't want to get steamrolled here. Any experience with something similar would really help. Thanks.