Car park accidents
Short answer
What do I do after an accident in a car park?
Car park collisions are handled like any other: exchange details, photograph everything and notify your insurer. Fault often turns on who was reversing and who was travelling in the aisle. Ask the centre management to preserve CCTV the same day, because it is usually overwritten quickly.
Reversing collisions
A reversing driver is generally expected to ensure the movement can be made safely, which is why a driver reversing out of a bay often carries responsibility when they meet a vehicle in the aisle.
Where two vehicles reverse out of opposite bays into each other, responsibility is frequently shared, because both were reversing and both had the same obligation.
Get the CCTV request in today
Shopping centre and car park CCTV is routinely overwritten within days. Ask centre management on the day of the accident to preserve the footage, giving them the exact time, level and bay number. Put the request in writing if you can.
Low speed does not mean low cost
A five-kilometre-an-hour bump into a modern bumper can involve parking sensors, a reversing camera, radar modules and a repaint. Get a quote before deciding the damage is too minor to bother with.
If the other driver has gone
A car park hit and run is common. Photograph the damage, note the time and bay, check for a note on the windscreen, ask the centre for CCTV, and report it to police. See our hit and run guide for the full sequence.
Common questions
Do road rules apply in a private car park?
The application of road rules on private property varies, and it is a genuinely grey area. Insurers still assess fault on ordinary principles — who was reversing, who had the right of way in the aisle, and what the evidence shows.
The other driver left a note. Is that enough?
It is a good start. Confirm the details are real by calling the number while you are still there if possible, photograph the note, and report it to your insurer with the CCTV request in train as a backup.
Sources
Crash Guide checks state rules against primary government and regulator sources. If something below has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
- General Insurance Code of Practice — Insurance Council of AustraliaChecked 10 September 2026
- Australian Financial Complaints Authority — AFCAChecked 10 September 2026