When scrutinizing a car accident, California operates under the state’s traditional tort-based law. This states that the person or party at fault for causing a car accident would generally be the one that pays for all damages.

Most accident cases involve only one or two parties, and the fault would typically go to the driver who broke a roadway rule and caused the collision. However, when many vehicles are involved in a multi-car crash, responsibility and liability are more challenging to determine.

If you’ve been involved in a multi-car crash involving several different vehicles and drivers, then litigating and determining fault can be daunting. These accidents are commonly tricky and much more complex to litigate.

In multiple car accidents, suing for damages and comprehending what happened can be highly confusing. Commonly, every driver may have a different version of events, and no one wants to admit fault.

In many cases, accident or insurance investigators and law enforcement officers will take an extreme amount of time to examine a pileup in detail before assigning fault.

Large amounts of evidence investigators are commonly collected to determine fault for a multi-car crash. This evidence can include eyewitness statements, police reports, photographs, any available video footage, and information from actual crash reconstruction specialists. Only by reconstructing exactly how the pileup happened, detail by detail, will the fault be appropriately placed.

In many of these cases, the fault is attributed to more than one party. There can be two or more drivers who may share blame for driving recklessly or disobeying traffic laws.

This is the primary difference between so-called “regular accidents” and multi-car pileups. Your personal injury lawyer will have to follow all of the combined evidence. California’s joint and different liability laws may hold each defendant liable for their portion of fault for the accident. So, if you were injured in a multi-car crash, your Rosemead car accident lawyer will have to sue and recover compensation from multiple drivers’ insurance providers.

The professionality, knowledge, and tenacity of your Rosemead car accident law team will be invaluable in helping to ensure you get the compensation you rightfully need to recover and move on successfully.

What If I’m Partially At Fault In a Multi-Car Accident?

Always keep in mind that multi-car accidents are always legally complex, and consulting with a personal injury lawyer with experience in these cases is vital.

After a full investigation of the multi-vehicle crash is made, there is always a possibility that you may be assigned a portion of the fault. If this happens, do not be discouraged.

California carries a pure comparative negligence law, and you could still recover at least a portion of financial compensation from other driver’s insurance companies. However, the Rosemead courts will reduce your payment by the amount that matches your percentage of fault. Therefore, it becomes mandatory to hire a car accident lawyer that will fight for you and keep your percentage of fault as low as possible.

Why Are Witnesses So Important in Multi-Car Accidents?

Any vehicle operators involved in the multi-car accident have a vested interest in the case and usually refuse blame. These drivers typically believe that the person who caused the initial collision is responsible for everything that happened to everyone else. Of course, this is not always the case, but it is possible that multiple drivers did no wrong and were simply “victims” of the situation they were caught up in.

If more than one witness corroborates the same story, this gives solid evidence to a case that might be difficult to solve.

Your detailed and experienced multi-car accident lawyer will do all they can to get bystanders involved after a multi-vehicle car accident. Your lawyer knows that witnesses can offer critical information to improve or even win your case.

How Does California’s Pure Comparative Negligence Rule Affect Multi-Car Accidents?

In multi-car accidents, there can be varying parties that are at fault. For example, a single driver may be entirely at fault, two drivers may be at fault the same amount, or three or more drivers may share small percentages of fault.

One person may make the initial mistake that sets off an accident “chain reaction.” Still, the other drivers who fail to react because they are speeding, tailgating, tired, or distracted could share some responsibility for collisions and injuries.

In Rosemead and all of California, the “pure comparative negligence” rule is utilized in determining your eligibility for personal injury compensation. This simply means that your assigned percentage of fault will reduce your compensation for the accident. It follows that a portion of the responsibility (and damages) would be assigned to all the drivers in the multi-car wreck that were deemed negligent.

You begin to see that litigating these cases can be exceedingly complex. However, if you are injured, the outcome is vital to your ability to get the compensation you need to recover and thrive.

I Have Been In a Multi-Car Accident in Rosemead; How Should I Proceed?

Car accidents happen every day on California’s often dangerous roads and highways. Some are simple “fender benders”, but others cause severe injury and tragically result in fatalities.

Multi-car accidents are possibly the most dangerous types of car accidents as they entail a scenario where multiple vehicles violently collide in a single incident.

These accidents commonly cause many injuries as well as numerous and detailed lawsuits. Consulting with an experienced multi-car accident Rosemead law firm will be invaluable to proving liability and fault and recovering the financial compensation you rightfully deserve. Your health and finances are vital to you and your family, so having the most knowledgeable, experienced, and empathetic multi-car accident lawyer on your side is mandatory.