Auto Insurance Claims: whos at fault?, contributory negligence, comparative negligence

Question
My son (a new driver) was pulling into the driveway of a friends house where another one of his friends car was parked in the driveway (the car was not running and the driver was not in the car) however, an occupant in the parked car opened his rear passenger door to get out and that door struck my sons driver side door as he was pulling in causing minor damage to both vehicles.  The owner of the parked car feels that his damages should be split between us and the passenger as his son was not in the car when the accident occured.  However, as our car also has damage, I suggested we each take care of our own repairs and not get insurance involved.  He has stated he may contact his insurance co. if we don't agree to pay for the repairs to his car.  I've been told by several people that my son is probably not at fault so I'm wondering if I would be better off to get the insurance involved. My son has a 1999 Alero and the other car is a 2001 Mazda.  

Answer
On vacation.. will reply in detail in 1-2 days.. hang on

OK.. let's go..

The general "rule of thumb" is that when someone opens a door into traffic that person is at fault.. unless the door has been open for let's say more than 3-5 seconds when hit as the argument can be made that the hitting car should have seen the open door and avoided it.

Who owes who is predicated on several factors not the least of which is the type of negligence laws in place in your State.

A few States use Contributory Negligence which means that is you , as an accident participant, where at the very least 1% at fault then you are BARRED from recover...

Most States follow Comparative Negligence laws but they are split into two types... if you are more than 51% at fault then your are BARRED... the other type is called PURE Comparative and in that instance you receive that % of the accident which the other driver is at fault.. even if it is only 1%.

In this case I am going to ASSUME that you are in a PURE State.

The owner/operator of the other car is responsible for the actions of his passenger(s)... in this matter he cannot recover as his own insurance compnay would cover the passenger as "an occupant of the car"... and that person cannot make a claim against the very company that is covering him.

In MY OPINION you son owes the other owner NOTHING...

Conversely your son or the owner of the car he was driving is owed... the question is how much.. let's talk %.... Did you son see that there were occupants in the other car.. if so should he have ASSUMED that a door would be opened?

I would calculate the other car's (driver and passenger) fault (negligence) in the 80-100% range and would look for a recover in the 90% range (argue 100% and use 90% as a fall-back/negotiated number).

Tell the other driver/owner that you do not agree with his/her assessment and tell him/her that you expect them to pay for your repairs and why... tell them if they report this matter that their compnay will pay you and his/her rates will go up.. their choice...  If they persist in their erroneous position tell them to report the matter to their company and have their compnay contact you... in that scenario you should report the loss to your own company...

Hope and trust that the above answers your question(s) and provides some direction.

Get back to me with any further needs/questions relative to this matter.

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Thanks