You did not ask to get hit. Your car was sitting still, yet now you are dealing with damage, injuries, and an insurance company suggesting your illegal parking spot makes you the problem. California law tells a very different story, and understanding the distinction could mean the difference between walking away empty-handed and recovering the compensation you deserve.
At Callahan & Blaine, PC, we have spent more than 40 years representing seriously injured people across Southern California. Our team of 29 senior trial attorneys has built a track record that includes the largest jury verdict in Orange County history, and we know how aggressively insurers will work to use your circumstances against you. If another driver hit your parked vehicle and hurt you, we are here to help you fight back.
What California Law Says About Illegal Parking and Fault
California does not treat illegal parking as an automatic bar to compensation. The state operates under a system of pure comparative fault, which means courts assign a percentage of responsibility to each party involved in an accident. Even if you share some blame for the collision, you may still be entitled to recover damages reduced proportionally by your degree of fault. California Civil Code § 1714 establishes that every person is responsible for injuries caused by their own lack of ordinary care, and that principle applies to the driver who struck your vehicle, regardless of where it was parked.
Shared Fault Does Not Mean No Recovery
California’s comparative fault framework allows injured parties to pursue compensation even when they contributed to the conditions that led to an accident. If a court or insurer determines that your illegal parking was 20% responsible for the collision, your award would be reduced by that percentage, but you would still receive 80% of your proven damages. The driver who failed to see your vehicle, maintain a proper lookout, or operate at a safe speed carries their own share of liability.
How Fault Gets Divided in These Cases
Determining how responsibility is allocated requires a careful look at the specific facts. Several factors come into play when evaluating how much fault each party bears.
The following elements are commonly examined when proving car accident negligence in California after a collision with a parked vehicle:
- The driver’s conduct: Whether the other driver was speeding, distracted, or otherwise failing to exercise reasonable care at the time of impact
- Visibility conditions: Whether your vehicle was in a location where a careful driver should have been able to see it and react
- The severity of the parking violation: Whether the illegal position of your vehicle actually contributed to making the collision unavoidable
- Road and lighting conditions: Whether environmental factors affected the driver’s ability to detect your vehicle in time
These factors do not operate in isolation. A skilled attorney will analyze all of them together to build the strongest possible picture of the other driver’s negligence and minimize the percentage of fault attributed to you.
When Parking Violations Create More Complex Claims
Some situations involve a parking violation that directly obstructed traffic or placed your vehicle in a location that made a collision highly foreseeable. In those cases, insurers will push harder to assign you a greater share of responsibility. However, foreseeability alone does not excuse a driver from the duty to exercise reasonable care. Whether someone was following traffic laws matters as much as the parking circumstances, and a driver who was speeding or distracted cannot simply point to your parking violation to escape accountability.
Damages You May Be Entitled to Recover
If another driver’s negligence caused your injuries, you may have grounds to pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost income, property damage, and pain and suffering. In cases involving particularly reckless behavior, punitive damages may also be available to hold the at-fault driver accountable beyond the scope of your direct losses. The key is documenting your damages thoroughly from the outset, including photographs of the scene, a copy of the police report, and records of every medical treatment you receive.
Contact Callahan & Blaine, PC to Submit Your Potential Case
Insurers are skilled at using your own actions against you, and a parking violation is exactly the kind of detail they will seize on to reduce or deny your claim. At Callahan & Blaine, PC, our trial attorneys have recovered landmark verdicts and settlements for clients across Southern California by refusing to let that strategy succeed. We know how to investigate these cases thoroughly, counter attempts to inflate your share of fault, and present compelling arguments in and out of the courtroom.
If you were hit while your vehicle was parked and suffered injuries as a result, do not assume that where your car was sitting ends your case. Contact us today to submit your potential case and let our team evaluate what your situation may be worth.
