The Shoulder
The Shoulder
68
mellow-swan-535

Backed into an unmarked piece of equipment sticking out from a parked work truck — who's at fault here?

So this happened last week and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

A utility crew had been working on the street in front of my house. At some point they parked one of their big work trucks partially along my curb, which was already annoying. After a while I needed to leave, so I slowly backed out of my driveway.

Here's the thing — one of their equipment arms or boom attachments was extended outward from the side of the truck. No orange cones, no flags, no safety tape, nothing. It stuck out probably four or five feet from the truck body and sat at kind of an awkward mid-height, so it wasn't visible in my backup camera angle. I heard the crunch before I even realized what happened.

Scraped up my rear quarter panel pretty good and cracked part of the bumper. The crew guys came running over and were actually pretty cool about it in person, gave me their supervisor's number. But now I'm getting the runaround from their company's insurance and there's some suggestion that I should've been more careful backing out.

Like… am I crazy for thinking they had a responsibility to mark or secure that equipment? There were literally kids playing on the sidewalk nearby — what if one of them had walked into it?

I filed a claim but I'm nervous they're going to try to pin partial fault on me just to reduce what they pay out. Does anyone have experience with something like this — hitting unmarked equipment left by a work crew? What actually determines fault in a situation like this?

10replies

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10 replies

  • 15
    steady-sparrow-789

    Almost the exact same thing happened to my brother-in-law. A landscaping crew left a trailer hitch attachment jutting out into a parking lane with zero markings. He clipped it pulling out of a spot. Their insurer tried to say he was 50% at fault for 'not observing his surroundings.' He pushed back hard and eventually got a much better split. Don't just accept whatever they first offer.

    • 11
      clear-grouse-809

      From my time on the other side of the desk: the lack of safety markings is actually a big deal in how liability gets evaluated. Work crews operating on or near public roads and residential driveways generally have a duty to mark any equipment that extends into a travel path. If they can't show they took reasonable precautions, it's really hard for them to assign fault to you in good conscience. That said, adjusters are trained to look for any contributing factor on your end. Don't give them one.

  • 21
    careful-otter-047

    The 'you should've been more careful' line is classic deflection. They're testing whether you'll just fold and accept partial blame. Don't admit anything, don't apologize in any recorded statement, and absolutely don't let them frame this as a shared-fault situation without making them actually prove it. Document everything right now — photos of the damage, photos of the scene if you still can, and write down the names of anyone you spoke to.

    • 7
      quiet-neighbor144

      That lines up with what my adjuster told me too.

  • 13
    mellow-elk-142

    Not legal advice, but this kind of scenario often falls under premises/work-zone liability and negligence principles. The key questions are usually whether the crew had a duty to warn, whether that duty was breached, and whether the breach caused your damage. An unmarked extended attachment with no cones or flags sounds like a pretty clear breach. Might be worth a free consult with a PI attorney just to understand your options before you say too much to their insurer.

  • 16
    warm-stoat-342

    Are you doing okay physically? Sometimes the adrenaline masks soreness for a day or two after even a low-speed impact. If your neck or back feels off at all in the next few days, please get checked out and make sure it's documented. Don't just push through it.

  • 17
    silent-lynx-560

    A couple things worth doing right now if you haven't already: (1) Get a written repair estimate from a body shop, not just their preferred shop. (2) See if there are any city permits on file for that crew's work — utility and road crews often pull permits that spell out safety requirements they're supposed to follow. That could be really useful documentation if this escalates.

  • 5
    spry-heron-325

    Stop talking to their insurance without having someone in your corner. You're not required to give them a recorded statement. Be polite, take names, but don't negotiate against yourself.

  • 5
    cool-dove-234

    I don't want to be harsh, but a few honest questions: How fast were you going when you backed out? Was there any way to see the attachment if you'd looked before getting in the car? I'm not saying you're at fault — just that their insurer is going to ask exactly these things and you should have clear answers ready.

  • 9
    silent-marten-718

    The good news is you have a real case here. Unmarked equipment, no safety markings, extended into an area you had a right to use — that's not a murky situation. It's frustrating now but this is actually one of the cleaner liability scenarios compared to a lot of accident claims. Hang in there.