Liability Issues in Multi-vehicle Crashes

Car accidents can take many forms. Some may be relatively straightforward and involve one driver colliding into another driver. Some may only involve a single car, though may be caused by outside factors such as road defects or defective auto parts. Other accidents may involve several different vehicles traveling different directions and causing injuries to numerous motorists.

On June 28, 2015, an Illinois man reportedly incited a multi-car collision on 1-80 just after 1:00 in the afternoon. Police reported that he cut directly in front of a Jeep in the fast lane of the highway. The driver of the Jeep swerved to avoid colliding with the car, however, the Jeep swerved all the way across the center median into oncoming traffic on the other side of the highway. Four different cars then collided with either the Jeep or one another. The driver of the Jeep did not survive and three others suffered injuries, according to news reports.

Determining liability is key to recovery

In such an accident, it may seem simple enough to place all the blame on the driver who initially changed lanes in front of the Jeep. After all, law enforcement officers issued the man a ticket and gave tickets to no one else. If he was the only negligent party, he would be liable for all of the losses of the injured individuals and the surviving members of the deceased victim’s family. In this particular accident, the first driver may be completely at fault, however it is important to know this is not always the case in multi-car collisions. Instead, multiple parties may have acted negligently and, therefore, may share fault.

For example, imagine that a car incites an accident in the same way as above. Pulling in front of another car at highway speeds would certainly be negligent in almost every situation. However, then imagine that, when the Jeep enters the lane of oncoming traffic, the first car coming toward it has plenty of time to brake and avoid hitting the Jeep, thereby also avoiding the chain-reaction crash behind it. However, in this hypothetical scenario, the driver of that car is sending a text message and does not look up to see the Jeep until it is too late to avoid the collision. In these circumstances, the distracted driver may also be deemed negligent and responsible for compensating some of the victims for their losses.

Correctly identifying all of the liable parties can be complicated in multi-car accidents. However, it is important that injured victims file claims against all possibly negligent parties to make sure they fully recover for all of their losses. An auto accident attorney in Rockford will understand how to thoroughly investigate all possible acts of negligence in a multi-vehicle accident and file a legal claim accordingly.

Contact an experienced Freeport auto accident attorney for assistance with your case

The team of auto accident attorneys at the Rockford law office of Fisk & Monteleone, LTD. know how to best represent victims of all types of car accidents so that they can fully recover for their losses. We offer free consultations, so please contact our firm for help as soon as you can.