Who Is At Fault in a Multi-Vehicle Collision?

 Posted on December 00,0000 in Car Accidents

In early November, six people were injured on Lake Shore Drive in a grisly multi-vehicle accident caused when an SUV struck a Jeep. When the SUV hit, both vehicles went spinning. The SUV, a Tahoe, continued to drive down the highway after the Jeep spun out, hitting the concrete barrier and flipping onto its cab, according to the Chicago Tribune. While five people were taken to area hospitals because of injuries they suffered in the crash, officials later reported that none of the injuries were life threatening, reports the Tribune.

What to do in the immediate minutes following a multi-vehicle crash can be daunting and, at times, overwhelming. Determining who is at fault—especially if there are more than two vehicles involved—can be tricky. Illinois is a modified comparative negligence state, according to the Illinois Department of Insurance. This means that responsibility for an accident can be shared between multiple parties directly involved. Compensation is made depending on percentage of fault. Yet in Illinois, reports the Department of Insurance, “an injured party may recover damages only if he / she is less than 50 percent at fault for the injury.”

An example of this scenario would be if one driver was speeding and another driver made a left turn in front of the other car. The driver who made the left turn without adequate time to do so would be partially at fault, yet so would the person who was speeding. If the court determines that the person who was speeding was less at fault than the person who made the left turn, the person who was speeding may not be able to recover any damages for the incident at all.

In a multi-car rear-end collision, according to US Insurance Agents, the person who is at the rear of the pileup is almost always at fault. In Illinois, because it is a comparative negligence state, it would be a rare situation where the person who was at the rear of the multi-car pileup was deemed the sole person responsible.

If you have been involved in a multi-vehicle collision, the most important step to dealing with it is to seek legal counsel. Do not go through it alone. Contact an experienced Chicago accident attorney today.