If a car in front of me kicks up debris from the road which hits my car and causes damage, is he liable?

[Darkstargdd]

As someone said in an earlier post. It’s like this… say you are behind a dump truck, and a stone falls off truck and directly hits your car without hitting the road, then the truck is responsible. If in that same situation, and the stone falls , bounces off the road and hits your car, then they are not responsible, it is considered a road hazard. It has nothing to do with how close you follow or anything of that sort. If it comes directly from a vehicle then they are responsible, if it touches the road at all at any time before hitting the car then he is not responsible

 

[feralkid]

If debris hit your car, you were too close. Call it tailgating or not, you were too close. Thus it was your fault and you are liable (true in most states).

Edit: since this was misinterpreted, here is a retype:

Whether you were tailgating or not, you were too close. You can be too close to avoid flying debris even if you are not tailgating.

What about someone passing you and kicking up debris?

 

[Spacehead]

Posting in a doubley bumped thread.

 

[compcons]

Posting in a doubley bumped thread.

It's awesome. Single post account created today just to pop up a thread from 2007?!?!? Crazy shit right there.

 

[dank69]

It's awesome. Single post account created today just to pop up a thread from 2007?!?!? Crazy shit right there.

Google warrior.

 

[PingSpike]

What about someone passing you and kicking up debris?

Whenever I've had a kicked up rock hit my windshield its been when I've been well back from the car in front of me. I figure if I were driving up their ass it would fly up into the grill of my car or arch right over the back because of the angle. But when I'm far back the rock can arch back down and land on my windshield. And I've definitely had them ping off when the only cars around were me and some one going the other direction.

This reminds me of those "watch for falling rocks" signs on the highway in the blasted rock cuts in the mountains. Like I'm literally suppose to be watching the road and staring up out of the sunroof I don't have at the same time so I can take evasive maneuvers if a boulder happens to be falling on me.

Anyway, this is no one's "fault" unless the rocks fell out of the cars open trunk or something. This is just something that happens which is why comprehensive insurance exists, which is what this is covered under.

 

[JEDIYoda]

As someone said in an earlier post. It’s like this… say you are behind a dump truck, and a stone falls off truck and directly hits your car without hitting the road, then the truck is responsible. If in that same situation, and the stone falls , bounces off the road and hits your car, then they are not responsible, it is considered a road hazard. It has nothing to do with how close you follow or anything of that sort. If it comes directly from a vehicle then they are responsible, if it touches the road at all at any time before hitting the car then he is not responsible

i thought you were only allowed one account on these forums?

 

[dullard]

This reminds me of those "watch for falling rocks" signs on the highway in the blasted rock cuts in the mountains. Like I'm literally suppose to be watching the road and staring up out of the sunroof I don't have at the same time so I can take evasive maneuvers if a boulder happens to be falling on me.

As you state, it is nearly impossible to safely drive while watching for rocks falling from above. But, that sign is still meaningful and helpful:

1) Watch for rocks that have already fallen and you might miss seeing otherwise if you weren't paying attention (sometimes black rocks on a black road in the black of night are hard to see if you aren't specifically looking for them).

2) Don't linger. The longer you are there, the more chance that you'll be hit.

 

[dullard]

What about someone passing you and kicking up debris?

That situation is not related to this discussion.

 

[Muse]

Happened to me, some vehicle on the freeway kicked up something that hit my windshield and cracked it, I figure probably a rock. I had to pay out of pocket to have the windshield replaced, must have been a dozen years ago.

 

[MtnMan]

Happened to me, some vehicle on the freeway kicked up something that hit my windshield and cracked it, I figure probably a rock. I had to pay out of pocket to have the windshield replaced, must have been a dozen years ago.

Comprehensive didn't cover it? I've had to replace a few over the years, but my comprehensive coverage paid for it, not even a deductible.

 

[lxskllr]

I had a rock almost puncture the door skin of a work truck once. No idea where it even came from, but it was loud as shit when it hit. If it had hit glass, it would have gone through the first pane, and broken the window on the other side.

 

[deadlyapp]

Comprehensive didn't cover it? I've had to replace a few over the years, but my comprehensive coverage paid for it, not even a deductible.

Generally comprehensive wouldn't cover full windshield replacement, although you can get that as a rider. They'll cover glass cracks and chips at no cost but a complete replacement you generally still have to pay deductible.

I just had to replace mine a month or two ago.

 

[Muse]

Comprehensive didn't cover it? I've had to replace a few over the years, but my comprehensive coverage paid for it, not even a deductible.

I could be mistaken, but I don't think I have comprehensive, just basically liability. Thing is I don't drive that much. Fact: car hasn't left the driveway for 14 days. Today, I'm going to Costco, so a stretch, shop and back to the driveway. Before fully vaccinated, didn't make that bi-weekly Costco run (except once). My quad roller skates have more than 4x as many miles on them for the last 12 months than my car.

 

[MtnMan]

I could be mistaken, but I don't think I have comprehensive, just basically liability. Thing is I don't drive that much. Fact: car hasn't left the driveway for 14 days. Today, I'm going to Costco, so a stretch, shop and back to the driveway. Before fully vaccinated, didn't make that bi-weekly Costco run (except once).

Comprehensive coverage covers any damage to vehicle other than collision, and pays actual cash value, no deductible. Stuff like tree falling on vehicle, broken glass, etc.
I have an older car that I don't carry collision on based on cost vs. value of car, but I have comprehensive on it