By: Los Angeles Personal Injury & Wrongful Death Lawyer
Car accidents happen every minute of every day in the United States. Recent statistics put the number of car accidents at over 6 million per year in the United States. Of those car accidents, many of them are multi-car accidents. Multi-car accidents are often referred to on the news as “pile-ups”. The nation’s highways are frequently the setting for multi-car accidents. With people traveling at speeds of over 60 miles per hour, it only takes one small error on the part of a driver to cause a chain reaction that ultimately leads to a “pile-up”. Even when traveling at slower speeds, multi-car accidents can happen. Road conditions, such as ice or water on the road can cause one driver to slide into another vehicle which then slides into the vehicle in front of it. Intersections are also prone to cause multi-car accidents. If one driver runs a red light and collides with another driver, that driver often slides into someone else. So who is to blame in a multi-car accident and who can you sue to receive compensation for your injuries?
The laws of negligence apply to all car accidents. What state you live in will decide how the laws of negligence are applied. Most states use a comparative negligence approach. In states that use comparative negligence – for instance in California – more than one party can be to blame for an accident. A jury can decide who was at fault and to what degree – or percentage – they were at fault. To use one of the examples above, if you are involved in a multi-car “pile-up” on the freeway, it may be that the negligence of more than one driver was to blame for the accidents. Factors such as speed, road conditions and distance between cars are only a few of the factors that a jury may use to decide who was negligent and to what extent they were negligent. It is, therefore, possible that you could be responsible for a small percentage of the fault, but still be compensated for the injuries you suffered. Determining negligence in a multi-car accident is a very complicated and complex process. Accident reconstruction experts are often used to help determine exactly what happened and how it happened. Sometimes, multiple lawsuits are filed or defendants are joined in one common lawsuit. As you can see, when more than one vehicle was involved in an accident, the legal process can become incredibly difficult to navigate.
If you have been involved in a multi-car accident, the best thing you can do is contact an experienced California personal injury attorney. The attorneys at Ledger & Associates have been handling personal injury claims for years and know how to resolve the issues involved in multi-car accidents. If you have suffered injuries as a result of a multi-car accident, you need someone on your side that can evaluate your case and make sure that the responsible party, or parties, compensate you for the damages you have incurred. For immediate legal advice and a full evaluation of your case please contact the experienced attorneys at Ledger & Associates today at 1-800-300-0001 or visit them online at www.ledgerlaw.com
