In this car accident case in CA, whose insurance company would have to pay the damage for my car?

Question

Yesterday morning on my way to school, a blue minivan was right in front of me, driving about 40 mph.

I was close behind it, but suddenly it stops so I have to slam in the brakes to prevent from hitting it. I didn't hit it.

I heard screeching behind me and looked behind me.

The pickup truck behind me stops just in time and doesn't hit me, but he's close.

Then, I hear another screeching sound and I see the pickup behind me being pushed forward and I get rear ended by the truck.

The blue minivan is gone.

The truck hit me, but it wasn't his fault. He got pushed forward into me by another truck.

My question is, would the pickup truck behind me have to pay for my damage because he technically caused it, or would it be the other truck because the damage wouldn't have been caused if it weren't for her?

It would be great if you could site your sources.

Thank you. =]

Answer 1

The person who hit the truck behind you is at fault. All of you were following too close and you're lucky you weren't sandwiched between the truck and minivan.  

Answer 2

It does not matter who hit who. That does not determine fault.

Fault is based on the "proximate cause". That means - what event can you take out that keeps the wreck from happening.  Most of the time the proximate cause is 1 vehicle. But it can be 2.

In your situation - you stopped. The car behind you stopped. The very back car did not. Take him out of the chain of events-- and the accident does not happen. The very rear car is the proximate cause. So, he would be responsible for the damages of all the vehicles in front of him  (even in the state of Georgia).

Here's another one--- you are traveling down the main road. Another car fails to yield at the stop sign and pulls out into your path. You T-bone his car.

You hit him. So, if you follow the erronious "who hit who" theory - you should pay for the damage to the other car - even though you did not have a stop sign -- he did and he ran it.

According to the Proximate Cause -- the car that ran the stop sign is the proximate cause. Had he stopped at the sign - the accident would not have happened.

Follow?

Now - in these chain reaction claims - it is not uncommon for the back car to say the middle car hit you (front car) first and then he hit the middle car and pushed the middle car back into you.

At the same time - the middle car is saying "no I got stopped and was pushed".

If that happens -- you will get called by the adjusters from all 3 companies (yours, middle car, back car). You become the guy that can break the tie.  All 3 of the companies will want to get a recorded interview from you about what happened. The main question they really want to know is "how many impacts did you feel?".

Reason for this is -- if you felt 1 impact - that supports middle car saying he was stopped and pushed into you.  If you felt 2 - that indicates middle car hit you first and then was pushed back into when rear car hit him.

You said you saw middle car get stopped (probably in rear view mirror) -- along with the number of impacts you felt-- let the adjusters know what you saw. That's important.

You are going to get really tired of telling the story to each insurance company. But - adjusters don't share their investigations (that's a whole differnt conversation).  So, please be patient and cooperate with the companies. They are not putting you through all those statements for kicks & giggles. It's because each adjuster has to conduct their own investigation and you could be the main guy they need to talk to.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

it's not a matter of who hit who when deciding fault.  it's what was the proximate cause.   You were able to stop in time.  The vehicle in back of you was able to stop in time.  even if it was close.   the third vehicle was not able to stop in time which meant he was following too close.

In any state  the third vehicle would be at fault.  Now if the second vehicle had hit you and then the third vehicle  hit it and caused it to hit you a second time, that's where it gets  tricky!!!!

Trust me on this one!!!!

Answer 4

ordinarily it is the fault of the other driver, but for the most part the insurance of the truck that hit you will actually have to pay for your car.  technically he was following too close which is why he hit you and so he will be cited for it and expected to pay for your car.  you're just lucky you didn't hit the van in front of you as well.

Answer 5

In georgia i know that the person that hit you pays for your damage and the person behind him pays for his damage. hope you didnt have a new car !!

Good Luck

Answer 6

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