After an accident, it’s important to find out who was at fault. Most of the time, there is one driver who did something to cause the accident, but at times, more than one driver could have done something to spark the incident on the road. However, this is usually rare unless two people run a stop sign or a red light at the same time. Another issue could be that both drivers are trying to pass a car or that they are speeding. Speed is one of the biggest factors when it comes to more than one driver being at fault in an accident.
There is a process that insurance companies and officers go through to find out who is at fault and what can be done if more than one person is to blame. You need to submit all of the paperwork from the accident scene to your insurance company so that the company can process your claim. If there is more than one driver to blame, then there is a possibility that you would get compensation for repairs from the insurance companies of both drivers, but the amount would likely be split in half. If you are partially at fault, then your insurance company might only pay out half of the claim with the other driver’s paying out the other half.
The process is called comparative fault. It’s a situation where investigators will look at everything surrounding the accident,such as road conditions and other factors, to determine how both drivers could have been involved in causing the accident. This is an important process to follow as the amount of compensation that is given to the victim is determined by who was at fault, but if you were partially to blame, then the compensation would be reduced. The judge will often look at the claim and determine your responsibility. If you are found to be at 50 percent of the cause of the incident, then the judge would take off that 50 percent of the claim total that you would receive. If you were responsible for 25 percent, then the claim would be reduced by that same amount. One of the things to keep in mind is that not all states follow this same process. Some states will only declare one person to be responsible for the accident even if two people assisted in causing it to make insurance filing become a smoother process.
An example of an accident that involves more than one person at fault would be when a driver pulls out in front of someone and hits another car. The car that is hit would then hit another car, which would make that accident the second driver’s fault in a legal sense. Sometimes, insurance agents will look at who initially started the chain reaction with multiple vehicles. The initial vehicle could have hit another in order to swerve for another driver. There are several types of situations to keep in mind when looking at multiple drivers being at fault in an accident, but the important thing to remember is that the insurance claim has to be processed according to the percentages of the responsibilities of each driver.
In some states, the fault of the accident is the person in the rear of the accident. On driver would run into the back of another, causing a chain reaction. Another driver might be at fault as well for not paying attention to the conditions that are taking place on the road. At times, officers and insurance companies might only charge the one who was at the rear because if that driver had been paying attention or not speeding, then the accident wouldn’t have happened. If other drivers are deemed at fault, then the percentages for the claims for the victims would be divided by the number of drivers in the accident. Most of the time, the lead driver isn’t deemed at fault in a rear-end accident. The police officer on the scene has a significant amount of responsibility when it comes to determining who was at fault in the wreck. Witnesses will also be a beneficial source in determining what started the accident as they were able to see the events as they unfolded. Those who are declared to be at fault can challenge the findings. This would prolong the length of time that it takes to process any claims that are to be paid for the victims, but it would also be a detailed report that would clarify responsibility.