Rear ended and witnesses conflicting testimony

Was stopped turning left (my blinker was on) & was then rear-ended.

The car behind me claims she was pushed into me by the car behind her hitting her. Two witnesses say otherwise. One witness agrees with her. One of the questions my ins co asked me was how many bumps I felt when being hit.

My answer was one. Is this a way to determine which car was responsible? (the one directly behind me or the one behind her)

If so, which car would be responsible if I only felt one bump?


Answer:


Hello,

For this type of accidents, adjusters are trained to ask how many impacts did the vehicle in front feel.

One impact could mean that the last vehicle impacted the middle vehicle pushing both vehicles into the first vehicle, thus the driver of the first vehicle felt one impact.

Two impacts could mean that the middle vehicle failed to stop and hit the first vehicle, and the last vehicle also failed to stop, hitting the second vehicle, and therefore, the first vehicle would feel both impacts.

These is of course the "theory" as you can see there are problems with it. The middle vehicle could hit you and bounce back and be hit a second time, never touching you (vehicle in front). There is also the bigger problem of "did you really felt one impact"? or your memory of the accidents.

Either way, there are witnesses and they will have to determine what they saw. There are conflicting reports, so it will come down to credibility.

The bottom line for you is that you are not at fault at all. Both vehicles behind you are likely jointly and severally liable. They have to pay for your damage and then sort it out. Get your insurance company involved so they repair your car (if you have that coverage) and they will have to go to mandatory arbitration to determine who was at fault.