was i in the right???

Hi all.

i may be in the wrong forum. if so apologies. didnt know where to post.

basically the story is, when i was driving into a parking space this morning some woman nearly reversed into me.

my understanding at the time is that i had the right of way to drive in as car parks follow the same rules as regular road traffic lanes and the onus was on her to wait until after i had passed before reversing. anyhow she barely missed me. it happened so quick i felt had to keep going i felt in order to avoid being hit. If i had stopped no doubt i would have been hit and anyway wasnt she meant to be looking out for cars behind her??

i was gobsmacked literally, then to my utter amazement and dismay the stupid bint said "do you not know when a car is reversing????!!"

err hold on i thought as my jaw hit the floor. she then made some smart remark about my 'L' plates. "ah now" i said "i had the right of way".
Inside i was screaming , outside i could barely get the words out with shock. she gave a laugh and drove off. i thought maybe for a split second i was wrong but i was literally level with her as she reversed and as i stated earlier i had little choice but to keep driving and hope for the best. i probably should have let her out for the sake of it but i honestly didnt expect her to be stupid enough to reverse. anyway i have drawn a small diagram to give you all a clearer picture

robfitz

I don't see any regulations for entering/leaving a parking space, but this is for reversing.

Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997
...
Reversing

12. (1) Before reversing, a driver shall ensure that to so reverse would not endanger other traffic or pedestrians.
(2) A driver shall not reverse onto a major road from another road.
(3) A driver shall not reverse from a place adjacent to a public road onto a public road save where it is clear to the driver that to so reverse would not endanger other traffic or pedestrians.
...

jackofalltrades

In a car park situation if you had of stopped and she hit you then I guess you would have been in the right, as she would have crashed into a stationary vehicle at slow speed.

tabatha

not saying this is so in your case but i feel that to many people dont let cars reverse out of spaces and try to inch by them instead. i have come across this so many times. cars will quite visibly be reversing out of car parking spaces and another car coming down the aisle will keep driving even though the reversing car might be half way out of there space. i think we all need to slow down and not to be in so much of a rush all the time.

tabatha

tabatha wrote:

not saying this is so in your case but i feel that to many people dont let cars reverse out of spaces and try to inch by them instead. i have come across this so many times. cars will quite visibly be reversing out of car parking spaces and another car coming down the aisle will keep driving even though the reversing car might be half way out of there space. i think we all need to slow down and not to be in so much of a rush all the time.

i probably should have stated that her car was actually stationery when i decided to drive into the space. she then proceeded to move just as i was adjacent to her.

mike65

Ah you "stole" her space then! I hate when that happens. grrrrrrr Being a woman she almost certainly had'nt bothered to check her mirrors and see it was actually clear to reverse.

/me ducks and runs....

Mike.

MicraBoy

It sounds to me like you stole her space. She was stationery because she was preparing to reverse into the space. Then you come along and dive in, because you assumed she was stopped for no good reason. Were her reversing lights on? If they were before you went for the spot then you were totally in the wrong.

She may have started to reverse because she saw you stealing her spot and was trying to prevent you from doing so. She could have been fully aware of what she was doing. You sound like you were lucky to get off with a few words.

tk123

Was she reversing into the space you were heading for or reversing out of a space?! Don't mind her - it sounds like she's one of these people who doesn't look where she was going but blames everyone else - i was in a similar situation last week where a 100 year old bint nearly crashed into me and my lovely new motorbike - she decided to cross a continous white line to overtake about 5 cars who were indicating, just as I completed my turn there she was bombing past them on all my side of the road!

MicraBoy

MicraBoy wrote:

It sounds to me like you stole her space. She was stationery because she was preparing to reverse into the space. Then you come along and dive in, because you assumed she was stopped for no good reason. Were her reversing lights on? If they were before you went for the spot then you were totally in the wrong.

She may have started to reverse because she saw you stealing her spot and was trying to prevent you from doing so. She could have been fully aware of what she was doing. You sound like you were lucky to get off with a few words.

No she was leaving the car park. Dont even think she was parked there. i drove straight on into the space which there was only her and my car there at the time. i hadnt even time to react and i was driving fairly handy and in no rush. the stupid bint actually the 2 stupid bints should have used the mirrors

Pigeon Reaper

A car reversing must give way to normal traffic as it is an abnormal manuever. Courtesy does come into account in car parks but that is all it is, courtesy. Since she was reversing out of a space you have right of way on two counts. First she's reversing and must yield to oncoming traffic and secondly she's leaving from a parked position into the traffic flow. Often you will have a bad reaction with L plates on the car. Just remember you have recently read the rules of the road and most likely have had professional instruction in driving. This is something most older drivers will not have the benefit of.

However at the end of the day no damage was done but perhaps both of you could have reacted to avoid this situation.