When fault in a 3 car rear end collision. If 2nd car hit 3rd car twice is he responsible for damages too?

Question

I was at fault for rear-ending a car infront of me, but the car infront hit the person infront of him twice, is he responsible for the damages of her back of the car and his front? Am i only responsible for his back?

Answer 1

If you pushed him into the car in front you are responsible for all the damage.

If he'd hit the car in front before you hit him the responsibility will be shared.

Answer 2

I'm assuming you're in the US. This is a legal question, and state laws are different depending on your state. This answer is not intended as legal advice, but merely some general principles that are common in the laws of many states, but may not specifically apply to your state. Check your state laws or a lawyer licensed to practice in your state before making any decisions which could affect your legal rights.

ANSWER:
You are probably responsible for all of the damages caused by you hitting the car in front of you, including the damage to his front and the damage to the back of the next car. While you could technically try to argue that the guy in front of you should have had his foot firmly on the brake if he was at a stop sign or stoplight, if you get into court you're going to have a hard time proving that. Sounds like he had his foot on the gas which made him hit, then accelerate and hit again, which is still your fault.

Long and short of it? Sounds like you need to call your insurance company right away, or if you don't have insurance, look forward to some awkward conversations with the other two people or their insurance adjusters on how much you owe. If they just want property damage reimbursed, make sure you get copies of their receipts for fixing it. If they are complaining of neck injuries, your insurance company will probably end up hiring a lawyer for you. If you have no insurance, you'll want to hire a lawyer.

Sorry to give the bad news, but hope it helps.

Answer 3

If it's as stated, middle car hit front car and _then_ you push middle car back into front car I'll add one point:

Adjusters usually look at the damages you caused to the rear of the middle car to determine the force of the impact _you_ caused. This indicates the extent of the damages to the rear of the front car that you caused. For example, lets say you only caused a scratch on the rear bumper of the middle vehicle but there is substantial damage to the rear of the front car. This indicates that the 1st impact, from the middle car caused most/all of the damage to the rear of the front car. You can figure the rest of the possibilities out for yourself.

Answer 4

your insurance companies will get together to determine who pays for what damage. Generally they agree to share a certain portion of damage, even if the driver feels they were not at fault, because it works out better for them in the long run, to avoid a lot of arguing over small (to the companies) portions of a claim.

If you are paying out of pocket instead of through insurance, you'll have a harder time claiming it wasn't all your fault. A couple of things to look at are, was the middle driver too close to the first car, and did he not have his foot on the brake. Those are things that could add to his liability. And the second collision would seem to be clearly not your fault, although the second car will argue its all your fault.

If it were to go to court, the court would look at what a prudent person would do and if it finds he was stopped too close to the first car, and can't explain the second hit, he would probably have to pay a part of the damage to the first car.

I would be comfortable with paying 3/4 of his damage and 1/4 of the front car if I were you. unless you have some information about him being too close or leaving the car in N with no foot on the brake or something

Answer 5

If you pushed him into the front car, then you have to cover both vehicles. However, if he hit the car in front first, THEN you hit him - you don't cover the front car. The police can find out by simply asking the front car If they were hit before hearing you hit the other car - and sometimes by the amount of damage to the front of car #2 and the rear of car #1, when compared to the front of your car and the rear of car #2.

It's possible you won't have to pay for the extra damage, but don't count on it. It's hard to prove either way.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Here's what I think you are saying.

Front car stopped.
Middle car was not able to stop in time and struck Front car in rear.
Rear car (you) could not stop in time and struck Middle car pushing it back into Front car.

IF it can be proven that Middle car struck Front car first - then was hit by Rear car -here's usually what happens:

Middle car pays for rear of Front car and front of his own car.

Rear car pays for damage to his own car and rear of Middle car.

There are variations on this depending on the amount of damage to the vehicles involved (such as Rear Car pays for all of back of Middle car and a % of front of Middle car) but is something that will be worked out between the insurance companies.

Answer 7

Generally the third car has no liability at all. The second car is responsible for the damage to the front of his, and the rear of number three. Number one is responsible for the front of his, and the rear on number two and *perhaps* needs to pay number two back for what he paid out to number three if he pushed number two into number three.

What you do is turn this into your insurance company and the three companies will discuss it and make decisions based on the facts.

Answer 8

Three Car Accident Fault

Answer 9

ok here is how it goes;

car 1; 1st in line
car 2; car in front of you
car 3; your car;

if car 1 who was 1st in line states he "felt 2 impacts", that means that the car 2 rear ended car 1, then you rear ended car 2 which pushed/struck car 1 again;

if car 1 states felt 1 impact, that means that you rear ended car 2 which then pushed into car 1;

1 impact; your insurance company will pay 100% to car 1 and car 2;

2 impacts; your insurance and car 2 insurance will divy up percentages owed for car 1 and car 2;
ie; you owe 100% rear end damages to car 2;
you would owe 50 to 75% of the front end damages to car 2;
you would owe 50 to 75% of the rear end damages to car 1;
so if your company paid 50% for front of car 2, then car 2's insurance would pay car 2's front end by 50%;
if they agree on 50% for car 1 damages; then your company will pay 50 and car 2 company will pay 50%;

hope that make sense;

good luck

Answer 10

You had a hit and run accident but no police report was filed. Was the police called? Did you notify your auto insurance company ? Were there any injuries to anyone involved? Probably want to let the insurance companies work it out since the police did not file a report. If they were not notified, then you just might want to do that after you have an estimate of the cost to repair your vehicle. Suggest you not delay in talking to the police and your insurance company.