3 car hit

It may be something you never think about since it may have never happened to you. Maybe you have only been in a few accidents that were 2 car accidents. Hopefully you have never been in a crash at all. It’s likely most everyone will experience a car crash at some point in their life whether they are the driver or the passenger.

So, here’s the scenario:

You’re driving down the freeway or a road and you get rear ended by the car behind you. You pull over to the side of the road and notice that 2 other cars pull over with you (the car behind you and the car behind them). This was a 3-car accident. There is damage on Car 1’s front end, Car 2’s rear end and front end and your (car 3) rear end.

Whose responsible for your car? Most of us would think that the car that hit us is responsible as that is what’s been out in the world chatter forever. And it may well be. However, it is not to be taken for granted.

Recently, a client of mine was in this predicament. He was the 3rd car hit.

Here’s the question you have to think about: Did you get hit once or twice? If you got hit once, then obviously Car 1 hit Car 2 that hit you Car 3. If you got hit twice, then Car 2 hit you and by that occurring, Car 1 hit Car 2 and then Car 2 hit you again.

If it’s scenario #1, Car 1 is actually responsible for both cars. If it’s scenario #2, Car 1 is responsible for Car 1 is responsible for Car 2 and Car 2 is responsible for you Car 3.

Now, this is going to become an insurance company issue most likely as they attempt to figure out exactly what happened and get the 3 statements to match up to understand exactly what happened. Either way the great news is if you are Car 3, you aren’t responsible. Worst case scenario your insurance company will pay for your car and it won’t count against you as an at-fault accident, nor will it cause insurance premium increase.

Something to think about……Make sure you are confident you have a very complete policy that includes proper rental car reimbursement, roadside assistance, glass coverage and more…It’s recommended you utilize an agent that will ensure you get the most coverage for the most competitive price.