Unique Issues in Multi Car Pileup Accidents

We tend to just naturally assume that a car accident is a car on a car—that is, that there are two vehicles involved in the accident. But that’s not always how it happens. Many times there are multiple cars involved—and sometimes, so many cars, that the accident can be considered a pileup accident.

A Lot of Drivers, and a Lot of Blame

Pileup accidents involve unique situations that are different from the legal issues involved in traditional two-car accidents.

The first difference is obvious: the number of parties involved. What can happen in a multi car pileup, is that people in the accident can be both victim, and the liable party—that is, someone can on the one hand be an innocent injured victim of another driver’s negligence, but at the same time, may be blamed for causing someone else an injury.

The more parties to a claim or lawsuit, the more insurance companies involved—insurance companies that are defending their insured, while their insured is also making claims for compensation.

When litigation happens, the number of parties involved can slow down the time that it takes to get to trial, or to reach any kind of settlement.

The root, initiating cause of the multi car pileup needs to be determined, to see who the initial negligent driver is or was, to see who “started the chain reaction” of accidents.

Sometimes, the cause of a major pileup is an eternal source—not any of the drivers. Such was the case in 2008 near Tampa, when 70 cars crashed into each other. The cause of that accident was determined to be controlled burns that were happening locally, which hampered roadway visibility.

Often, the cause may just be weather—usually, heavy rain or fog (or snow, in areas outside of Florida). When that happens, liability can be on drivers for failing to drive in a matter that is safe for the weather conditions.

Insurance Issues

But even if that is determined, that isn’t the end of the legal issues. Insurance can become a problem. Imagine that 4, 5, or 6 cars are all involved in an accident caused by a single, lone driver, and that that driver has only moderate limits of car insurance. There are now multiple injured victims in the various cars that are left to pick at the negligent driver’s insurance policy.

Bad Injuries

Injures can also be different. When many cars crash into each other simultaneously, it means that there is some force (usually caused by the car or truck that is initially liable) that is strong enough to push one car into another into another, and so on.

That means that the impact, at least for the initial cars in the pileup, is extraordinary. It is no wonder that if you look up major pileup disasters, there are usually some fatalities involved.

Injured in a multi car pileup? Call to schedule a consultation with our Tampa personal injury lawyers at ​​Barbas, Nunez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian today for help with these complex legal cases.

Source:

wctv.tv/2024/08/27/ten-vehicle-crash-blocks-traffic-both-ways-i-10-gadsden-county/