So you’ve been injured in a multiple car accident. Now what should you do? Taking the right action to get your claim process underway as soon as possible is vital to receiving a reasonable settlement. The process involving these types of accidents can be daunting. You’ll definitely want to enlist the help of an experienced car accident lawyer.
Questions need to be answered, such as was there recklessness on behalf of multiple drivers who all contributed to the crash or was it one single person’s negligence that set off a chain reaction? Reconstruction of Accident Severity can help legal professionals pinpoint the exact cause of the pile-up and your specific role in it.
Determining Fault
Witnesses have to be interviewed and experts may even be hired to reconstruct the accident. A rear-end collision is often the trigger point for multiple car crashes. It could be that a vehicle, stopped at a red light, was struck from behind. However before that particular collision, the rear vehicle may have actually also been struck from behind by a third vehicle that propelled it into the lead car. The third car would most likely be held liable and would owe damages to both of the front car drivers. Negligence might be proven in this case since drivers are required to make a safe stop by leaving enough space between their vehicle and the others in front of them.
But it is seldom that simple. There are also cases where the at-fault driver was driving while distracted. Since the introduction of cell phones, distracted driving is increasing in prevalence but texting or calling someone while driving is not the only culprit. Distracted driving could involve other activities that take attention off the road such as putting on makeup while looking in the rearview mirror or scanning the radio. All of these new details go into a final report that will heavily impact the compensation package you receive from any insurance company.
Consideration of Other Factors
Other factors your legal representative may take into consideration are general road conditions and weather. Was it raining or were there icy conditions on the road? This will be entered in as evidence, as will violation of any road rules.
Having enough evidence is imperative. But if there are not any traffic cameras nearby and no one has recorded the incident on their camera phone, the case may be more difficult to unravel. Your lawyer will look for all forms of evidence such as photographs, car manufacturer defects or driver impairment because of vision or medical problems.
The danger in multiple car accidents lies in their intricacy. In some cases, the jury assigns blame for the entire accident to one person. Sometimes after that, the defendants may turn and point the finger at the plaintiff and claim they are the responsible party. At this juncture, the jury often has to assign each driver a percentage of the blame. Depending on what state you are in, the local government may rule against you and say you are not eligible for compensation if it is determined that you are responsible for more than 50% of the accident.
You’ll want to avoid this or other pitfalls along the way, and your car accident lawyer will work closely with you to get the settlement you deserve. In some multiple car collisions, liability is easy to prove but in other cases, it can be a drawn-out, time-consuming process best left in the hands of a qualified car accident lawyer.
