Is that always your fault if you rear ended another car before you?

[Mo0o]

it is your fault. supposidly its your job to maintian a safe distance so that if the guy infront of you was to stop suddenly you would have enough time to stop

 

[Jingoh]

This happened to me...

Two cars where ahead of me as we were on the onramp to the Interstate. Very
icy day, snowy, windy. The second car in front of me hit the skidz, the car
directly in front of me came to a stop, I came to a stop with just a few inches to
spare. The car behind me rammed into me and pushed me pretty forcefully into
the car ahead of me. When the cops showed up, thank goodness that the person
in front of me vouched that I had stopped. The person that hit me from behind got
cited for all of the collisions. (then, while the person in front of me and I were in
the cop car, giving our stories... someone came along and rear ended the cop car!
LOL One cop spilled his coffee all over the place and was cussin up a storm!)

Needless to say, I was pretty damn sore, being in two vehicles that were rear
ended. I should've held out for some $$ but just had alll of my medical bills paid
and of course, repairs paid for.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

It's not always your fault. There are those insurance schemes where someone pulls real fast in front of you and slams on their brakes. Not only is it not your fault, they get charged with a felony. (Of course it takes some time to prove)

 

[Soulflare]

You got lucky Jingoh. In a nearly identical situation I was declared at fault.

I was driving in my RX-7 (Hwy 401, Toronto) when a Civic CRX in front of me
came to a sudden halt and I had little trouble stopping in time. Shortly after
coming to a complete stop, a guy in a Toyota Camry absolutely hammered the
back end of my car and pushed me ten or so feet into the back of the CRX.
The CRX had about $80 in damage to its rear, my RX-7 had maybe a scratch
or two to the front, $2200 in damage to rear and the Camry's front end was
completely smashed. Still at fault apparently *rolls eyes*.

 

[t3chvest]

No, I Was driving and a guy pulled out in front of my from the other lane (there was a line of cars, so he was pulling out from a stand still). I was doing about 45 and couldn't stop in time. I wasn't driving like a maniac, doing the speed limit, had plenty of space between cars. Thankfully I stopped enough that I just moved his car about 5 feet, no damage.

BTW, the rule for space is easier if you think about it in seconds. You're supposed to have 2 seconds between you and car in front. When they get to a stationary object see how long it takes you to get there after they do. Either way, if you think you're too close, you probably are.

 

[angrymaxx]

i think if the person driving the car that got rear ended doesnt have a valid driver's license then its not your fault. Also if you can prove that they cut you off and you didnt have time to brake. I have also heard something similar to what OuterSquare mentioned.. I think it was a riced up honda that got rear ended that the guy that hit him said he had illegal tailights and the case was dropped...

 

[psteng19]

i had this happen to me this past summer. it was obviously a scam (a "known" russian scam).

a car full of russian immigrants cut into my lane abruptly and slammed the brakes on purpose. I could not stop in time and hit his bumper.
they had a passenger fake an injury, and decided to sue me.

this case is still under investigation, as i told my insurance company that i suspect (know) it was fraud.
they even bought an old beater car to do this... a 1988 honda accord with new plates and registration.

pissed me off big time.

there HAS to be changes to this law.

 

[gopunk]

i don't think so, you can always make an argument for it being the fault of the person behind, like "oh, well you should have been more alert", but sometimes it is also partially the guy in front's fault, especially if they stop suddenly with no warning.