Full question:
I live at the end of a street thst is not listed as a dead end but the end of the street is the embankment of a dike that has the Allegany river on the other side. I have parked at the end of the 'street' for 45 years and my car was just backed into by a sand truck (the police found out after investigation)in the middle of the night. My trunk was crushed and the back windows' glass 'blew out'. I went to the village public works department anticipating that their insurance would cover the damages. They say that it is a street and technically I was parked illegally on the street and they are not accountable. They have been plowing and sanding this 'street' for years with 3-4 cars here at a time throughout the years. We have never been asked to move or make other parking arrangements. Does this seem right?
- Category: Automobiles
- Date:
- State: New York
Answer:
Insurance policies may exclude coverage for damage to illegally parked cars, so whether insurance is applicable will be governed by the insurance contract terms under principles of contract law. Auto accidents are governed by negligence principles in tort law. In order to show a party is liable due to negligence, it must be shown the party had a duty to use care, carelessness breached that duty, and such carelesness was the cause of the foreseeable harm to the plaintiff. If the party who is seeking to recover damages is partly at fault in causing such damages, it is possible for the recovery to be reduced under the legal theory of comparative or barred under the legal theory of contributory negligence.
When an accident occurs involving an illegally parked car, an issue oftens arises about the cause of the accident. In many cases, the defendant will claim that the improperly parked vehicle was the cause. One of the elements in a negligence claim is proof that the harm to the plaintiff was foreseeable. If it can be proven that the car was known by the particular defendant driver to be illegally parked over a long period of time, that may weigh on foreseeability, or raise a claim of contributory or comparative negligence for failing to report the car to be towed. It will be a matter of determination for the court based on all the facts and circumstances involved.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
