Whose Insurance Pays in a Multi-Car Accident in California?

15 Aug Whose Insurance Pays in a Multi-Car Accident in California?

Whose insurance pays in a multi-car accident? Multi-car pile-ups are dangerous events that can lead to severe or fatal injuries to several individuals at once. One person’s negligence can affect the lives of multiple people, and often those who are hurt or killed commit no negligent act themselves.

When others involved in a multi-vehicle accident commit negligent acts, it becomes a complicated endeavor to unravel the mystery of who is responsible.

Every driver who commits an act of negligence that leads to another person’s injuries is responsible for paying compensation to that person. This principle does not change when multiple vehicles are involved, and it helps address the question of who should pay compensation to the victims of a multi-vehicle crash.

How Car Insurance Works in California

In most car accidents, the insurance company that covers the responsible driver pays compensation to the injured parties. For this reason, California is referred to as an at-fault insurance state. Motorists who are hurt by another’s carelessness do not need to cover their own losses or submit claims for compensation to their own insurance companies.

With the challenges of identifying who is responsible for causing a multi-car accident, you may be tempted to file a claim against your own insurance policy. While you may do so, and your insurance company will most likely pay your claim up to your policy’s limits, taking this route will also mean you are responsible for paying any deductible pursuant to your policy. Your insurance company may also raise your premium for filing a claim.

Moreover, just because you file a claim with your own insurance company does not mean you do not need to discover who is responsible for the multi-car pile-up. Your insurance company may be very interested in identifying the responsible parties so that it can recover the compensation it paid to you from those who are legally responsible.

Tools to Discover Whose Insurance Pays in a Multi-Car Accident

Whether you intend to file a claim against another driver’s insurance or your insurance company requires you to assist in their investigation, you may need to uncover exactly how your multiple-vehicle collision happened.

This task is made easier by partnering with a car accident lawyer experienced in 3-car accidents. The lawyer can use the following methods to efficiently identify the culpable parties:

Eyewitness Statements

Even though a multi-vehicle accident can happen in a moment and can result from several people’s negligent acts occurring simultaneously, eyewitness testimony is still essential to understanding how an accident unfolded. When multiple vehicles are involved, the list of witnesses to interview will be long.

Suppose that one car rear-ended another, and that car then rear-ended another vehicle, which pushed a fourth vehicle into an intersection. At about this time, a speeding tractor-trailer came through the intersection and crashed into the fourth vehicle.

All of the drivers of these various vehicles will have a different perspective and unique information about what they observed immediately before and after the crash. Likewise, any passengers in these vehicles might also recall details essential to unraveling the question of liability.

Finally, any nearby eyewitnesses who were not involved in the crash but may have seen what happened should be interviewed as well. Their observations can either confirm or contradict the observations and recollections of the drivers and passengers involved in the crash.

This information can help identify the areas of contention where additional evidence will be needed to establish liability.

Objective Evidence Like Photographs and Videos

Next, your attorney will look for cameras that may have captured still images or videos of the crash. Some of these images and videos will not be of much value because they are of poor quality, are located too far away from the crash, or are not at a good vantage point.

However, some cameras may be sufficiently close to the crash and offer a good view of essential events in the chain reaction. Again, this footage can corroborate or contradict the recollections of those involved in the crash and those who observed it, helping to focus further investigative efforts on particular events in the overall crash.

Data From the Involved Vehicles

Most modern vehicles come equipped with an event data recorder as a standard feature. This compact computer is constantly recording data about the vehicle, including:

• The vehicle’s speed
• How much the driver is pressing the accelerator
• What steering inputs are being made and how severe those inputs are
• Whether the vehicles’ brakes were applied and how hard
• If the vehicle’s electronic stability control feature or other safety features engaged

The data that comes into this computer is constantly being overwritten while the vehicle is operating. Once the computer detects a crash, it preserves data from approximately five seconds before the crash up until the moment of impact.

Data from the vehicles involved can help your attorney determine which vehicle was being operated safely and which drivers acted carelessly just before the crash. For example, the data recorded by these computers could show:

• Speeding without slowing down before the crash, suggesting that the driver was distracted or drowsy
• Weaving immediately prior to the accident, which may indicate intoxication
• Hard braking, which is a possible sign that the driver made a sudden movement
• Activation of security features, showing that the driver may not have been controlling the car in an appropriate manner before the wreck occurred

These event data recorders are useful evidence because they are objective and their memory does not deteriorate with the passage of time. However, locating these recorders and accessing their information following a crash can take some time and persistence.

This is one of many reasons why hiring an experienced lawyer following a complex multi-vehicle accident is a good decision.

Reports from a Reconstructionist

If all of these resources still do not paint a clear picture of how your multi-car accident happened and who is responsible for your injuries, an accident reconstructionist’s services may be necessary.

Such an individual can help make sense of a large volume of information and provide an explanation of how it all likely fits together, giving you a cohesive narrative that accounts for most of the available evidence about your crash.

A reconstructionist’s opinion about who caused your injuries will only be as good as their qualifications and the information they are given. However, with access to multiple witness statements, photographs, videos, information from the vehicles’ data recorders, and detailed law enforcement diagrams and measurements, they can provide a persuasive picture of how your crash unfolded.

Steps to Take Following a Multi-Vehicle Collision in Southern California

As is true with any other car accident, the actions you take immediately after a multi-car pile-up can significantly impact how quickly you can hold the responsible parties accountable for the harm you suffered.

Do not delay in completing the following steps:

Protect Your Health

Assess yourself for serious injuries that need immediate medical care. These injuries include head, neck, and spine injuries, profuse bleeding, and broken bones. If you believe you might have any of these conditions, it is best to call for emergency medical care and be taken to a hospital for treatment.

If you do not think you have been severely hurt, you should still go to your local primary care provider or the nearest hospital as soon as you can. An evaluation can help rule out any injury or internal damage you might have suffered in the wreck that has not yet manifested any symptoms.

Remember that the hospital or doctor’s office can only stabilize you. Make sure you follow any instructions you are given and take any prescription medication as directed to increase your chances for both a full recovery and full compensation.

Watch What You Say

You may not have committed any crime, but what you say after a multi-vehicle crash can come back to haunt you. Do not say that you are sorry or admit to any negligent act. Instead, you should talk with an experienced legal counsel about what to do and say.

Admitting to committing a negligent act at the time of the crash can affect your ability to recover compensation under California’s pure comparative negligence laws. Without knowing what role, if any, your negligent acts played in the pileup, it is best to remain silent.

Similarly, be careful what information you provide to any adjuster who contacts you about the accident. Do not admit fault, and do not state as facts things you are not certain about. Avoid speaking to insurance adjusters yourself; your attorney can answer any of their questions on your behalf.

Fill Out and Submit an Accident Report

If you are involved in a crash in California wherein any property is damaged in excess of $1,000 or any person is hurt or killed, you must file an SR-1 accident report within ten days of the crash. Failing to do so can result in a suspension of your license, even if you were not at fault for causing the accident.

Here is another step your attorney can assist you with. Under California law, your legal representative is permitted to complete this form for you and submit it on your behalf. Although the SR-1 is not crushingly burdensome, it can feel that way as you attempt to recover from a serious car accident event.

Retain Legal Counsel to Fight for You

While you do not need legal counsel to file an insurance claim, hiring one after being involved in a multi-car wreck can give you several benefits.

Investigating the causes that played a role in your crash can take time, especially if you are not familiar with the steps you need to take. Your attorney is better equipped with the knowledge and resources to investigate your case swiftly before memories fade and evidence is lost.

Your attorney can also help guide you through the insurance claims process, filing your claims with the appropriate insurance company and negotiating settlements of your claims.

Additionally, with a skilled car accident attorney representing you, you will not need to worry about saying something careless to an insurance adjuster or adverse party that could jeopardize your recovery.

Multi-Car Accidents Deserve Special Attention

California’s laws hold each person responsible for the damage they cause to another. However, the application of the laws is complicated when there might be multiple people who played a role in causing your injuries.

Following a multi-vehicle collision, recovering full compensation requires you to identify the person or persons who caused the crash or otherwise played a role in your injury.

This tall order is made easier when you know the available evidence, how to obtain it, and how to use it effectively. An attorney can accomplish this investigative and advocacy work on your behalf while you recover from the injuries you sustained.

Your Car Accident Lawyer with the Steve Gimblin Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyer Is Standing By to Assist

If you have been hurt in an accident involving vehicles other than yours and one other driver’s, the Steve Gimblin Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyer can help. Our experienced team is ready to get to work on your behalf and will vigorously pursue the compensation you deserve for your injuries. Contact us today for a free consultation to start the process.