Is it your mistake if you hit the car at the front because of a push from behind? The collisions that happen due to the rear pushing of cars into another vehicle are a widespread type of motor vehicle accident. However, the rare part is to get hold of the person at fault and then proceeding with the compensation.
You can get help from personal injury lawyers who are qualified to handle these cases and experienced in proving the claim. Go online; if you were rear pushed into the car in front please click here to understand better total liability or partial liability in any car collision. The team of legal experts helps you with the entire situation by preparing simulations and setting examples.
Understanding the scenario with an example
Let’s understand the scenario: When you experience a knock from the rear while driving and hit the car in the front, it is a ‘chain reaction’ accident. It happens when more than three automobiles are involved, and the accident occurs due to pushing or being hit from the back. Here is the small virtual example followed by the explanation:
Car 4 >>> Car 3 >>> Car 2 >>> Car 1
What do you think, whose fault is it? It is a very confusing case as; all three cars are hitting car 1. Car 2 rear-ends car 1 only because car 3 and car 4 are pushing it too close. When the car drivers are not maintaining proper spacing between their and other vehicles, then this happens.
You can encounter this in traffic signals or when people drive slower than the usual speed limit due to heavy traffic flow. The above example is of fours car; however, this is a chain reaction. There is a possibility of a vehicle colliding into it ahead of car 1 and a vehicle behind car 4 hit by another vehicle from behind.
Another unfortunate scenario could become when there is a chain collision due to a motorist. Sometimes the motorcyclist cut the lane and comes in front of you, leaving very little space between you and them. It is a very tricky situation and might result in rear-end accidents.
An investigation is a key to find the traffic violator
Many drivers are involved in the accident, so bringing the car insurance claim or injury lawsuit into the picture is challenging. The foremost requirement is to determine who is at fault for initiating the compensation process or filing a lawsuit against them.
If you seek to file an insurance claim or file a legal case against any car driver, the liability to prove negligence is too high. To ascertain the car and its driver, who was the initiator of chain reaction collision, to figure out the share of liability is the primary task.
When driving on the road (traffic or not), it is crucial to follow the traffic rules, and one of the main rules is stopping distance. You must maintain a certain distance between your car and the car at the front. Failure to do so will result in a collision, and one who is at fault will have to face the case of negligence. But it is certainly tricky to find out who is at fault in the above scenario. Here are some pointers to help you with the factual establishment.
- Gather information from the local cameras (CCTV).
- Collect the records from eyewitnesses (including yours, co-passengers in all the cars, passers-by, and respective car drivers).
- Police and traffic authority statements are ready after the accident to ascertain who was responsible for the traffic violation.
- Amount of damage to the car and you.
- Gather evidence from the accident scene, like skid marks and debris from the motorcar.
To prove negligence
The term ‘negligence’ or ‘neglect’ becomes questionable during accident cases. Here are the four elements that determine the person at fault:
- The driver must follow the road regulations to be careful at any given point in time. For example, stopping at the red light, watching for pedestrians crossing, and maintaining stop distance between cars.
- The driver must be reasonably careful as per the road laws. For example, the sudden arrival of pedestrians running, dating out of children on streets, and cutting in motorists.
- The driver’s carelessness results in damage to you. For example, your neck injury is because of the defendant’s poor driving.
- The driver’s careless driving resulted in measurable injuries and damage to you. For example, you did not suffer any injury, no damage to the car, no trauma, or nothing to prove.
Avoidable or unavoidable cases
As per the road regulations, it is your fault if you hit someone in the back while driving. However, sometimes the situation arises from unavoidable reasons. Say, for example, you are driving at a specific speed limit and are maintaining decent space between your car and the car at the front; suddenly, another car cuts in front of your car and slams the breaks. It will reduce the space that you were maintaining, and then rear-end collision becomes a possibility.
You will be in total juxtapose to determine the accident reason. Several factors come into the picture to defend this collision. Could you predict the car cutting in? Could you have maintained more space even after another car slamming in? Could it have been easy on brakes? There are many factors to trigger the rear-end car accident in this incident, and only a legal expert can help prove the driving offense.
Duties of a responsible driver
- Drive responsibly at the given speed limit.
- Be vigilant on the road and of the surroundings.
- Maintain firm control of your car.
- Keep the car at good maintenance with all safety features intact.
- Never drive in the influence of alcohol or illegal substance.
Pointers that help to determine the offender
- The foremost simple step is to check the dashboard camera if you haven’t yet installed one. Earlier, only the lorries had board cameras, but now, it is prevalent for domestic car drivers to install one dashboard camera to get the rear-end situation.
- Determine the forceful and on-purpose slamming of the brake by the car driver at the front of you. You must collect the possible information and give it to them for the claim. However, they send back a statement explaining the massive damage to their vehicle with exaggerated claims in most cases.
- The best treatment for any collision is staying calm, although it is challenging as any accident causes panic. Do not instantly admit to any liability or take responsibility for the crash.
- Share as many details as possible (try and recollect) with the traffic authorities and police. But if you face interrogation by the authorities about the accident, use your Miranda rights.
- Sometimes it’s a sheer case of fraudsters who will claim for the passengers who were not even present at the accident. Beware of all these possibilities and take pictures and videos immediately after the collision. You can achieve this when you stay calm and not very injured.
- Never panic, as it ruins most of the cases. It is tough to say but, this is the best approach to handle any situation. When you receive exaggerated claims after the accident, please speak to the car accident lawyer and sort it out. Collect the proofs that will support your case.
Legal expert – yes or no!
The car accident attorney is a certified and legal expert to sort all kinds of accidents. When you hire an injury lawyer, it’s their reasonability to support you throughout the case. Sometimes the situation is simple, and filing the insurance claim will fetch you all the compensation, but sometimes it reaches the judiciary court. When the insurance company lingers on the claim or is completely refusing to pay, you must hire an accident attorney to help with the insurance company’s hassles.
Go online and fill up the first evaluation form to get the free consultation. Discuss with the team of lawyers and check for the possibilities of getting maximum compensation. If the accident was your fault, the attorney should also help reduce the charges and negotiate the claim amount.
Hiring a legal representative shall boost your confidence as the attorney prepares intensely for any court case. They are responsible for collecting all the proofs and preparing the paperwork for a claim. Insurance agents may act non-cooperative most of the time, and it becomes lawyers’ duty to pin down the company and extract the claim amount you deserve.
Many of the lawyers offer contingent fee facilities. It means you only pay them after the settlement and nothing before. It is generally no win – no fees policy.
Conclusion
After encountering the accident, suffering the injuries, and paying off the bills of wreck car repair – it isn’t easy to approach the legal expert for help. But if you want to fight for justice and do not want to pay for someone else’s mistake, then ask for lawyers’ advice. Being a responsible driver who is following all the rules – you do not deserve to be suffering other errors. Discuss with your car accident lawyer and get the right claim benefits.
Interesting related article: “What is a Lawsuit?“