Los Angeles. Hit an opened car door and my insurance accepts responsibility and I don’t agree. Looking for advice
Note: This is my first accident I don’t know much about the process.
was driving down the right lane when I hit someone’s street-parked opened car door. My insurance got back to me and said we would accept responsibility, citing that since the door is already open, drivers have the duty to scan for potential hazards. I assume they put me 100% at fault and I don’t agree with this. Here’s some more details:
- Insurance didn’t send someone out to inspect the damages verify the narrative yet.
- The other party tried to demonstrate what they were doing and I have it in recording. Just the act of opening the door already pushes it PAST the white line marking the street parking. In other words, the door was definitely intruding into my path. They also leaned which could possibly push it out even further.
- The other party claims I was driving too closely. This is also false since I was going straight and the fact that the door was intruding into my right of way.
- My car’s damage shows the right edge of my car damaged with the side mirror and handles broken off. On the other hand, their damage is on the rear left door with the very corner only bent forward. This tells me that I wasnt driving into the car, otherwise my damage should’ve started from the bumper and not the right edge.
- This one I call BS. The other party claims their hip hurts, but they were able to walk just fine. Also, the damage pattern of their door bent forward means the force was directed AWAY from them, not concentrating into their hip.
I don’t think my insurance is properly handling my case based on the above. Can anyone advise me on what to do next? Thanks for your time!
Edit: I should emphasize that I think this is a timing issue. Yes, their door could already be open. I wasn’t distracted and did not notice a door in my path. I believe I was already passing the car when the damage happened. They could’ve have pushed the door even further based on the video of them demonstrating what they did
Posted Apr 1, 2026, 8:40 PM UTC · edited