Q: Who is at fault when someone opens their door onto oncoming traffic and an accident occurs?
I was driving down a street when out of nowhere a man opened his door and it was too late for me to respond so I struck it. I parked my car to check it out and we called the police. A few minutes later his wife comes down and the first thing she says is “is that what the noise was?” When the police come the wife is first to speak saying that I was at fault because I was speeding and his door was open the entire time and I drove too close to it. I told the officer to disregard her statement because she wasn’t even there when it first occurred but on the police report he added her statement saying that she saw me front her window and I was speeding. Now because of that statement, their insurance won’t cover the damages done to my car and settled for 50/50 no fault. I just want to know what would be the best choice to go on from here, because I don’t want my insurance to go up due to someone else’s fault. I live in New Jersey.
A: You can always ask the police officer to change the police report but other than that there's not much you can do. Hiring a lawyer would cost more than what you would save.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
A:
You could consult with an attorney about going to court, but these tend to be tough cases. It can be costly to reconstruct the manner in which things occurred. Good luck
Tim Akpinar
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