3 vehicle accident, whom is at fault?

by derekinc » Tue May 04, 2010 10:17 pm

I was driving to work on a 3 lane highway. There is an off ramp which gets very backed up in the mornings. The traffic on the off ramp spills into the lane closest to said off ramp, making it almost a 2 lane haighway in that section. A vehicle decides he does not want to wait in the line up of cars and without signaling,cuts into the middle lane. this causes the driver who he cut off in the middle lane to swerve to the lane to his left to avoid him, in turn he cuts me off, causing me to hit him in his rear with no time to stop. Who is at fault?

Total Comments: 5

Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 10:32 pm Post Subject:

Who is at fault?

Need to know the impact area of your car, and the other car...if he had room to get in front of you, (damage to his rear and your frt bumper), unless he admits to cutting you off (never happens)..you'll take the hit...let us know where the points of impact are.

Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 11:12 pm Post Subject: whos at fault?

my damage was to the front end (grill, bumper). When he swerved he was at a 45 degree angle or diagonal to me when we impacted, his damage was more to the left side of his rearend. I was driving in the fast lane of the highway, while he entered from the slow lane. Road conditions rainy and snowy.

Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 07:38 pm Post Subject:

sorry to hear, hope you are ok...

is there any damage to his quarter panel and your fender? or was it a bumper to bumper? if there is some side impact damage, you can argue he came in to your lane. otherwise if its a bumper to bumper, your at fault. depends on if he had control of the lane by the time you hit him.

basic rule of thumb: you gotta control your car at all times, maintain control of your lane, and keep a safe distance between you and the car in front of you. from the info you provided, it looks like he got ya! if you rear ended him, you will likely be at fault, regardless if you couldnt react fast enough to avoid. if you are in a comparitive neglegence state, he may share some of the liability if you have witnesses that can confim your story. otherwise good luck.

im curious as to how this pans out for you. pls keep the forum updated.

Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 11:56 am Post Subject:

you say his damage is to the 'left side of his rearend' I don't know if that means the left side of his bumper or his quarter..your damage to your grille (in particular) and bumper, doesn't sound good for you..basically if he got in front of you and got straightened out so that the impact is pretty much square your front to his rear...chances are you'll get tagged on this one unless there are some independent witnesses to back you up..sorry.

Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 01:22 pm Post Subject:

From the looks of it you seem to be in trouble. Do have any photographs of his car? Your car? Any witnesses? Have you taken this person’s contact details etc.?

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