Another very common type of car accident is the three car rear end collision. There is a lot of confusion as to whether one or two cars are at fault and who you can sue. This blog entry will discuss some of these issues. Bear in mind that every case is case specific and it is important to have these cases analyzed. At Drucker Law Office, the injury attorney Gary Drucker helps clients analyze their car accident cases and helps clients recover monies from the at-fault owner/driver or owners/drivers when they are injured in an accident.
Generally, the three car rear end collision happens in two different ways. First car in front is stopped; second car behind is stopped; third car crashes into second car which causes second car to crash into first car in front.
In this first scenario, the third car is generally at fault. If the second car was just stopped behind the first car, then the second car of course would generally not be at fault. Similarly, if the first car was stopped at a light, then it would not generally be at fault either. So, in this scenario the third car is at fault. Oftentimes, I will be asked by the person in the first car if they can sue or make a claim against the second car and generally the answer is no, as the second car is not at fault. In this scenario, the second car was stopped and the only reason it hit the first car was because the third car hit it from behind.
The second way these accidents can happen is as follows. First car in front is stopped; second car behind crashes into first car in front; third car crashes into second car which causes second car to crash again into first car in front.
In this second scenario, both the second car and third car are generally at fault. The first car, presuming it was stopped at a red light for example, would generally not be at fault. From the perspective of the first car, he would have a claim against both the second and third car for his or her injuries.
Of course, every case is unique and has to be judged on its individual merits. In order to evaluate these cases, a jury will listen to the testimony of the drivers of the car, any passengers, any witnesses and the policeman (although his testimony would be limited to only what he saw, not to any conversations with the drivers; see the accident report privilege blog from earlier) and to look at pictures of the cars and the intersection and any other evidence brought in by the parties.
