Determining fault in Florida car accidents is generally based on the premise of 'negligence. ' In a situation involving striking a parked vehicle, whether legally or illegally parked, the moving driver is typically considered responsible for not exercising reasonable care.

Under Florida law, if you hit an illegally parked car, you—the moving driver—are typically held mostly or entirely at fault for the accident. Florida follows the legal principle of "negligence," and moving drivers are expected to maintain "reasonable care" to avoid stationary objects, even if those objects are not supposed to be there. An illegally parked car is considered a "static" hazard that a careful driver should be able to see and avoid. However, Florida is also a comparative negligence state; if the car was parked in a way that was exceptionally dangerous or invisible (such as around a blind curve at night without lights), a court might assign a small percentage of fault to the owner of the parked vehicle. Regardless of fault, in Florida, you must immediately stop, attempt to locate the owner, or leave a note with your contact details, as leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage is a second-degree misdemeanor.