Car accidents are some of the most difficult cases for which anyone can assign liability. The negligent driver and the victim are likely to have conflicting accounts of the events that transpired, and the guilty party often attempts to lie or otherwise misrepresent their part in the collision. This makes even two-car accidents complicated to resolve. The challenge of determining fault increases when there are multiple vehicles involved, however. If you’ve recently been involved in a multi-vehicle accident that was not your fault, experienced Dallas car accident lawyers will work closely with you to determine who was responsible and obtain the compensation that you deserve.
The Challenges That Arise After a Multi-Vehicle Car Accident
A multi-vehicle car accident is an auto collision in which two or more vehicles were affected. These often take the form of pile-ups, wherein one vehicle initially neglected to brake properly, resulting in multiple rear-end crashes until they all end up in a jam. These types of incidents can be especially devastating, as certain vehicles in the pile-up may take more damages than others as a result of being hit multiple times. For this same reason, the passengers face even greater danger, having to avoid injury in multiple instances back-to-back.
Because of how these events typically unfold, these incidents have a significantly higher probability of having several injured parties and a long list of damages to both vehicles and personal property. Often, these are the cause of wrongful death as well. For this reason, pursuing legal action and receiving the appropriate assistance from your insurance company can be quite tricky, as there is quite a lot of evidence to sift through to determine precise liability.
Insurance companies are already known for evading policyholders’ efforts to use their services, since their priority is often to keep their profits intact, rather than to serve their customers. In cases such as this, the likelihood of your insurance provider’s manipulative avoidance habit is even higher, since liability is so unclear. Depending on whether your state enforces no-fault or at-fault driving policies, it may be especially challenging to determine who is and is not responsible for the incident.
For example, in California, those who rear-ended the vehicles in front of them would be automatically assumed to be liable for the crash. However, in no-fault states like New Jersey, this may not be immediately evident since liability is not a matter of the positioning of the vehicle, rather, the actions of the driver. Motorists who are found to have been driving negligently or breaking the law at the time of the incident will be the first to be found at fault; however, there is a substantial amount of evidence required to prove this.
How to Determine Fault in Your Multi-Vehicle Accident Case
To ensure the best chance at success in assigning liability in a multi-vehicle accident case, you must hire legal assistance. An experienced car accident lawyer will be equipped with the knowledge and the tools to procure the definite evidence you need to accurately determine fault for this case and get you the compensation you deserve. Your lawyer will be able to demonstrate whether the involved drivers were doing any of the following, and can, therefore, be found guilty:
- Violating a traffic law of the state or municipality
- Driving with distractions such as cell phones
- Exceeding the speed limit
Get in touch with a lawyer today to get your case underway.