Rear end accident - fault?

Question

If a car makes an abrupt and sudden stop as they are approaching a yellow light because they realize they will not make it through and when they stop the light is red and a few seconds later they are rear ended by another vehicle who thought the first car and themselves were going to go through the light is the car that stopped abruptly also at fault?

Thank you all for your answers.
MSAD - Feedback from an insurance adjuster is especially helpful.

Answer 1

Yellow means slow down b/c the light is about to turn red. Yellow does not mean "floor it".

The car in the back made a bad assumption that he and the front car were going to disregard the traffic signal and not follow the law by slowing and stopping for the light.

The car in the back was also: following too closely, traveling too fast for conditions and keeping an unsafe/improper look out.

The car in the back is at fault.

Answer 2

Definitely the fault of the driver that hit the rear of the other car. You are supposed to stop at a yellow light if you cant make it through before the light changes. The other driver should not have been following that closely.

Answer 3

The car that did the rear ending is at fault. The following driver should be paying enough attention and allow enough of a following distance to be able to stop.

Besides. Yellow means, caution, the light is about to turn red, and a red light means you should be stopped.

Answer 4

No, the car that hit from behind would be at fault. All cars are supposed to keep a safe stopping distance with the understanding that the car in front of them could stop any second.

Answer 5

No. The car who hit it from behind is at fault for tailgating and negligent driving. If you believe the car that stopped is in any way at fault then you would have to put forth the argument that the first car, while stopped, then hit the front of the car behind it with its rear end, a most implausible theory.

Answer 6

Youo and the cars behind are APPROACHING a yellow. Which means, it has already been on for awhile. Which means you are not IN the intersection. You are not obligated to "hit the gas". Braking is what you were suppose to do.
You got rear ended. That dude was even farther outside the intersection than you. (if you managed to squeak thru on a late yellow, he would be going thru on a red).
Definitely he was following too close and could not react fast enough. Fault is his.

Answer 7

The person who hit the car from behind would be at fault for following too closely. You should always leave enough room between you and the car in front of you so you can stop in an emergency.

Answer 8

I would say the follow-up car. The last car should've taken caution to the yellow light and the fact that a car was in front of them and not crossing the intersection yet. You can't assume other people's reactions. They definitely aren't thinking about you when they're stopping. You have to be cautious of how close you are following at a red light too. I would say it was the one who failed to stop.

Answer 9

Despite the popular legend that ALL rear enders are the fault of the rear driver there are some instances where the lead vehicle can be found at fault. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them. Failure to keep safe operating distance from lead vehicle finds the rear vehicle/driver at fault.

Answer 10

The car behind that ran into the stopped car is at fault. This is a prime case of why drivers need to pay attention and not tailgate.