Fender Bender - Who’s the Responsible Party?
New York Jul 22, 2026
Location: New York State I was recently involved in a fender bender. I live in the suburbs of New York City and was exiting the parking lot of my train station after work. While stopped waiting for traffic to clear, a car reversed and struck my fender, causing some damage. I exchanged information with the driver, but did not file any sort of police report. The driver of the other vehicle is of the opinion that I hold some responsibility for the collision because I was using a roadway that is typically used as an entrance not an exit. There are no “do not enter” signs, but there are arrows on the road showing that it is an entrance. There is also a single one-way sign which is not visible from the parking lot I was exiting. My question is whose responsibility is this and is it worthwhile to push back on the offer to split the cost 50/50? Given that my vehicle was at a complete stop, I had no way to avoid the collision, regardless of the direction I was intending to travel. Any advice would be helpful!
