Who is at fault in a 3 car accident?

Answer 1

Tough call. In many states (like Florida) there is a "no fault" policy that doesn't officially assign blame to any one driver. Each driver is given a ticket for individual offenses if applicable, and the insurance companies decide the percentage of "blame" to go around. In any case, let's say we have 3 cars in a line; A at the front with no seat belt, B in the middle, and C at the rear; all traveling the speed limit and C is tailgating B. The driver in B drops his Frappucino on the floorboard and doesn't see that A is braking. First, B smacks A in the rear. C is paying attention but (following too closely) can't stop in time and smacks B in the rear. First, at-fault states. The cops are called, and now there are pretty blue lights flashing everywhere. The cop will interview driver A first. The question he will ask that will determine "fault" is: "how many bumps did you feel?" If the answer is 2, then B is At Fault. If the answer is 1, then C is at fault. A answers "2 bumps," so driver B is at fault, even though C may admit to tailgating. The first driver to hit another in the chain reaction is usually at fault. A, B and C get tickets for their respective violations, but B will be at fault. This may change with circumstances. If driver C decides to flee the accident, then he may get the blame. If driver A reeks of booze, then he's almost definitely getting the blame. Same accident in a no-fault state: Tickets are given to driver B for careless driving with accident, and to driver C for tailgating, and to driver A for no seat belt. The cop leaves, and here come the insurance companies. Driver A might get 5% of the fault for no seat belt. Reason? Deductables come out of the driver's pocket instead of the insurance companies'. The insurance companies will try to spread the blame around as much as possible so that all drivers pay more of the damage through deductables. Since A, B and C all received tickets, negotiations may conclude that A is 5% at fault, B is 75%, and C is 20%. So if every driver has a $200 deductable, an at-fault state saves $200. In a no-fault state, the insurance companies just saved $600 for the same accident. I'm ranting now. Sorry. In short, the first driver to hit another car is usually at fault.