Determining Fault in Multiple Vehicle Auto Accidents in California
Multiple vehicle auto accidents are fairly common on California’s congested freeways, which begins with one driver rear ending another driver, resulting in a chain reaction that involves 3 or more vehicles. Alternatively, an accident may occur when a driver runs a red light and hits another car broadside, setting the stage for a multiple car pileup accident. Multi-vehicle car accidents create an added challenge for determining liability for injuries that vehicle occupants suffer.
If you are involved in a multi car accident, it is vital you exchange insurance information with all the drivers involved, obtain witness contact information and contact the police to come to the scene and create a police report. It is also absolutely vital you take photographs of the scene, including skid marks, vehicle debris and property damage from multiple angles. If you suffer injury due to pile up accident in our area, you can contact our experienced Glendale auto accident attorney soon after the accident in order to ensure that all pertinent evidence is immediately identified and documented. If you or a loved one has been involved in a multi-car accident, we invite you to contact a KAASS LAW car accident attorney in Glendale, CA for a free consultation and case review. Our office will handle your car accident claim, set you up with health care professionals for any needed treatment. We don’t charge you any upfront legal fees, as we charge a contingency fee, meaning you don’t pay, unless we are able to recover money damages from the responsible parties.
Determining Fault in a Chain Reaction or Multi-Car Accident?
Determining fault in a multi-car accident is the biggest barrier to overcome in these types of accidents. From a factual perspective, determining causation can be tricky. In a case where a driver admits to being distracted and being the first car to rear-end another car in a line of cars, it may be appropriate to assign that driver 100% liability. Often times however, there are other factors at play including, bad weather conditions, driving to close to another vehicle, road construction, drunk driving, or aggressive driving. Thus, it is vital to speak with a car accident attorney that has experience with handling multi-car accident insurance claims.
Tailgating: Comparative Negligence in Multiple Vehicle Accident
When tailgating contributes to a multiple vehicle auto accident, all drivers who tailgated potentially shares some liability for causing injuries of occupants in vehicles that are ahead of the tailgating driver. The driver of the vehicle that collides with the car at the end of the chain likely has the greatest fault. On the other hand, if the driver of the car at the end had followed the next car at a greater distance, perhaps that driver’s car would not have been pushed into the car that he or she was following.
Chain reaction accidents or multi car accident in a “stop and go” traffic scenario also create issues of comparative negligence. Generally, drivers are not held responsible for following another vehicle too closely when the vehicles in traffic are stopped, but if the chain reaction collision occurs while the cars are in motion, the legal notion of “comparative negligence“comes into play. If some cars are in motion but others are not, sorting out responsibility becomes a difficult task.
If you were involved in an chain reaction or multi-auto accident call or contact our Glendale personal injury attorneys for a free consultation. We will fully review your case, answer any questions you may have, and explain the process as you move forward.