Who has the right-of-way in an alley?

Answer 1

Generally speaking, vehicle traffic in an alley that is "one lane" should travel from east to west. The vehicle already established in the alley has the right-of-way, but this doesn't give the driver of that vehicle the right to go zooming through the alley without being cautious. The point-of-impact between your vehicles is very important here. If it's more to the side of your car, the other driver probably has some negligence. If it's just to your bumper, you'll probably be found At Fault. The impact point on the other vehicle is also important, but your car will demonstrate just how far into the alley you were when the collision occurred. Also, the amount of damage to both your vehicles can be very telling. We can usually assume that a person backing into an alley is not going at an excessive speed. This isn't always the case for someone who's decided to tear down an alley at 40 miles-per-hour. If the damage to either or both of your vehicles was excessive, it could also indicate excessive speed on the other driver's part (depending, of course, on the types of vehicles you two were driving. If your Ford F-350 backed into his Geo Metro, it's another story altogether). Hope that helps. These can be very tricky...