Knocked over a brick post - Could it already have been damaged??

So I'm new to this forum, so not sure where I'm supposed to post this.....

I took my husband to work the other day and as I was reversing to turn the car around and get back home. Somehow I managed to totally miss a brick post with a light on top at one of the other companies that are on the estate. There was a traffic cone on top of where there was an identical post before, which I noticed but somehow I totally didn't see the other post!!
Anyway, as I reversed around it I scraped it with the side of my car, just above the rear wheel. I spoke to my dad about it and he said with the damage it's done to my car - just a scrape/scratch, no dent or anything - he reckons I couldn't have knocked it over. Granted it didn't crumble or fall over, but it kinda twisted on the spot!
So I was wondering whether anyone else can shed any light on this! Could there have been any previous structural damage to the post that no one had noticed and I just gave it the last push?? Cause if that's the case I don't really wanna pay for them to get a new post put up if it was already damaged!

So if you have any experience with this, any help would be appreciated!