Legal Question in Insurance Law in Washington

Re: Multi-car crash

You appear to describe a "chain-reaction" type of vehicle accident. As you describe it, IF all the vehicles were following at exactly the same safe distances for the identical speeds they were traveling, then the analysis ordinarily would blame the FIRST CRASH for all the subsequent impacts.

The problem is that these cases are VERY fact-specific, and rarely simple. There is usually some fact in at least one of the crashes that makes a simple analysis like the one above almost impossible. For example, one driver may have felt TWO impacts, suggesting that this car was rear-ended PRIOR TO the rearward driver having been hit by the car behind it; or that there was some ricochet effect suggesting higher speed. Or, in another example, one vehicle may have been traveling much closer to the car in front of it than others were.

So, the short answer is that you have to look at the relationships between EACH vehicle in EACH impact. The liability for each impact may well vary, therefore, from others in the chain, depending on the specific evidence involved. Sorry, but there really isn't a single, simple answer, although for the sake of expediency (and at the expense of accuracy), insurers will sometimes just opt for the one that makes the most sense.

-- Sam