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(253) 272-5226Being in any car accident can be an upsetting or traumatic experience. But what happens if you’ve been in a collision with more than one vehicle? Chances are you have lots of questions – all of them important. As injury lawyers, we help clients every day navigate complex accident situations.
In this blog post, we will discuss the basics of what you should know if you’ve been in a 3-car collision, including:
Here’s what often happens in a 3-car collision: one car rear-ends another and causes that car to rear-end the car in front of it. Another term to describe this type of crash is a chain-link collision. What could cause a wreck like this?
Here are some possible answers:
Often, there’s more than one reason why a crash happened. For instance, a driver might have been going over the speed limit on a rainy day. He noticed too late the car ahead of him was stopped at a crosswalk. In this scenario, both the speeding and weather played a part.
You probably already know intuitively that a wreck with three cars is going to be more complicated than a wreck with two.
Let’s consider some of the reasons why.
With more people involved, it’s also possible to get multiple versions of the accident story. Ultimately, this can make things trickier in knowing who’s to blame.
Often, the driver who collides with a car with enough force to push that car into another car will be responsible for the impacts between all the cars. The reason here is simple. The second collision wouldn’t have happened if the first one hadn’t. If only one driver is found responsible, all victims would be paid from his or her insurance policy. However, this can be problematic if the total cost to treat the victims’ injuries exceeds the policy limit.
If you feel you are being unfairly assigned blame, you should reach out to a car accident attorney. Depending on the facts, they may be able to help build your case to get your percentage reduced or thrown out entirely.
The most important clue for determining negligence is the police report. In a complex accident scene involving three or more vehicles, it’s important to get a patrol officer to respond and help secure and sort through the scene.
Even so, disputes happen. What then? Thankfully, there are some clues to help determine who is at fault and how much.
Some of these clues include:
Here again a car accident attorney may be able to help. They likely have additional ideas and resources at their disposal.
If you’ve been in a crash involving multiple cars, here’s what to do:
We’ve hinted a few times already that you may want to consider involving a car accident lawyer on your case. Well, here’s one more reason. There’s no charge to call us and tell us about the 3-car collision you were in. During a free review, we’ll let you know if we can help you or not. If we can, we’ll only charge a fee when we win you a settlement.
In other words, there’s no risk to reach out to see if you could benefit from legal help. Remember, there are likely multiple parties and insurance companies involved. By having a lawyer on your side, you make sure your interests are represented. A lawyer from our Washington State team would be happy to speak with you, so call us today.