Fender-benders are the most common type of car accident in the United States. If a car hits you from behind, you should consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer near you. Every state has specific case law addressing liability in rear-end collision cases. Most rear drivers are liable for your injuries, but special exceptions might apply in pile-up accident cases.
Even if fender-bender claims seem simple, do not accept quick insurance settlements. Rear-end impacts often result in delayed onset (latent) neck and back injuries, and rear drivers might blame you for stopping short. Discuss your car accident claims with a dedicated rear-end collision attorney near you.
Common Causes of Rear-End Crashes
Rear-end crashes account for nearly 40 percent of all motor vehicle collisions, including 18 percent of fatal car accidents and 38 percent of accidents resulting in serious injuries. The prevalence of rear-end car accidents is linked to the most common cause of motor vehicle crashes in the United States – distracted driving. Driver distraction due to cell phone use, including texting, emailing, and checking traffic, takes a driver’s mind and eyes off the road. Rear-end collisions often occur when the rear driver looks away from the road and, at that moment, the front driver slows down or stops at a red light. Even a few seconds delay can cause the rear vehicle to hit the front vehicle from behind.
Cell phones are not the only cause of driver distraction. Turning around to discipline children, eating, drinking, and even reaching for spilled items might all cause serious rear-end collisions. The following factors also commonly contribute to hit-from-behind accidents:
Speeding
The faster you’re traveling, the more distance and time it takes to stop your vehicle. Heavier vehicles, such as semi-trucks, also need more space to stop. Speeding increases both the likelihood and severity of rear-end accident injuries.
Driving Under the Influence (DUI/DWI)
Alcohol and prescription drugs reduce drivers’ ability to process information, respond to stimuli, and multi-task. Drunk drivers can see vehicles slowing in front of them without being able to determine the appropriate response. Even a few seconds delay in hitting the brakes can result in devastating highway accidents.
Fatigued Driving
Drowsy driving is almost as dangerous as drunk driving. Fatigue reduces the driver’s ability to process information and respond to slowing or stopped vehicles. Long-haul truck drivers and shift workers may cause rear-end drowsy driving accidents.
Failing to Keep a Safe Distance
The general rule is to keep a 3-second following distance between vehicles, increasing the distance at higher speeds. However, it’s almost impossible to maintain this distance in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Most fender-benders occur when the rear driver fails to keep a safe distance between vehicles.
Bald and Deflated Tires
Tires are designed to grip the road. When the tread wears out, it reduces the friction between the tire and the roadway. Cars with bald and deflated tires may skid into the front vehicle. Experienced car accident attorneys may request a tire check following rear-end collisions to ensure the vehicle complies with state safety standards.
Brake Failures
Brakes are expensive to fix, and many drivers operate vehicles with bad brakes. Mechanics might also perform negligent brake jobs. Brake failures often result in fatal rear-end collisions.
Failure to Yield
When one driver pulls onto a roadway and the rear driver fails to yield, this can result in the slower-moving driver being hit from behind. These accidents often cause serious injuries because the rear driver has no time to slow the vehicle, meaning the front vehicle is hit at high speed.
Emergencies
Accidents, such as jackknifing, and sudden roadway hazards may force the front vehicle to execute an emergency stop. If the rear driver does not react immediately, this might result in chain-reaction crashes.
Driving Too Fast for Conditions
Wet surfaces reduce the friction between the roadway and tires. Even if drivers keep a safe distance, hitting the brakes quickly in wet conditions might result in hydroplaning. Drivers must slow down in bad conditions. This gives them more distance to stop or slow safely, preventing rear-end collisions.
State vehicle and traffic laws generally require drivers to keep a safe distance, drive the speed limit, and maintain their vehicles in working condition. If one or more of the above traffic violations resulted in a rear-end collision, a car accident attorney might file negligence per se claims on behalf of injured passengers.
Injuries Sustained When Drivers Hit You from Behind
The severity of your injuries after a rear-end collision generally depends on the speed and weight of the rear vehicle. For example, slow-moving sedans might cause fender-benders, resulting in minimum bumper damage and whiplash. The same accident might result in fatal brain stem trauma if the rear vehicle was a speeding 18-wheeler. Rear passengers, as opposed to drivers, might also experience more serious injuries because they’re closer to the impact point. Call a dedicated car accident attorney if you or a loved one suffered from one of the following serious injuries when a car hit you from behind:
- Diffuse Axonal Injury: High-speed rear-end collisions are one of the leading causes of severe and fatal diffuse axonal injuries, a type of traumatic brain injury. These occur when the crash force propels passengers’ heads rapidly forward, damaging the nerve fibers. These brain injuries might result in comas, persistent vegetative states, or death.
- Concussion: The crash force may cause front-vehicle passengers to hit their heads on steering wheels, dashboards, and seatbacks. Airbags also deploy with such explosive force that they may cause head trauma. Although rarely fatal, concussions can result in long-term cognitive, behavioral, and physical symptoms.
- Slipped Discs: When you’re hit from behind, it sends a powerful force through your whole body. This force often pushes the intervertebral discs in the spinal cord out of alignment. These discs often press on nerves, resulting in serious back and neck pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness. Back and neck injuries are the most common serious medical condition resulting from rear-end crashes.
- Paralysis: High-speed rear impacts may cause the victim’s spine to flex and, essentially, break. A broken neck or back often results in complete paralysis below the damaged area. Paralysis is a life-long disability resulting in substantial financial damages.
- Burns: When heavy vehicles, such as fast-moving SUVs and semi-trucks, hit smaller vehicles from behind, this often breaches the gas tank located near the vehicle’s rear. The heat and sudden sparks generated from the collision may result in sudden car fires and serious third-degree burns. Motorcyclists can also suffer from painful friction burns if the crash force causes them to slide across the pavement.
- Fractures and Amputations: Rear-seat passengers may get pinned in the vehicle after a serious rear-end crash. This often results in bone-crushing injuries, necessitating multiple surgeries and even amputations.
- Death: Rear-end collisions account for nearly 20 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities, mostly resulting from sudden head and neck trauma. An experienced wrongful death lawyer might help eligible family members recover damages following these tragic accidents.
Even after fender-benders, you should present to the emergency room or walk-in clinic for a full medical workup. Certain injuries – such as brain bleeds, whiplash, and slipped discs – might not have immediate symptoms. If you sustained a serious injury in a rear-end accident, connect with a local personal injury law firm. Experienced legal professionals in your jurisdiction will fight to hold the rear driver 100 percent liable for the crash, entitling you to demand insurance compensation and additional damages.
Determining Liability After Rear-End Accidents
In most cases, the rear driver is considered liable for a rear-end collision. The law assumes that if the rear driver was traveling the speed limit, paying attention, and keeping a safe distance, they would have been able to stop his vehicle and avoid the crash. However, insurance adjusters may shift blame to the forward driver by claiming that they unlawfully stopped short or cut off the rear driver. Always call an attorney if another driver claims you triggered a rear-end collision.
Complex Chain-Reaction Crash Claims
While most rear-end accidents result in rear-driver liability, legal complexities arise in chain-reaction crash cases. These multi-vehicle accidents most often occur on complex highways, especially those with heavy commercial and passenger vehicle traffic.
For example, when a tractor-trailer jackknifes, the trailer will suddenly block multiple lanes of traffic. Front drivers might immediately slam their brakes, stopping before they impact the trailer. However, it might take rear drivers an extra few seconds to process the event. If rear drivers aren’t keeping a safe distance, they may hit front drivers from behind. The chain might then continue, causing a major pile-up accident involving multiple rear-end collisions.
After chain-reaction crashes, liability may be split between the negligent truck driver and the rear driver. Experienced lawyers have even seen cases where the front and middle drivers stop safely, but another driver pushes the middle driver into the front driver. Insurance policies have event limitations, so it’s important to contact a personal injury attorney quickly after mass casualty events.
Phantom-Driver Accidents
Many states recognize phantom-driver liability. This occurs when a driver who is not physically involved in the accident contributes to a rear-end collision. For example, two drivers drag racing might blow past the front driver, causing the driver to swerve into another lane, resulting in a rear-end collision. Like chain-reaction crashes, rear drivers may challenge liability in such cases.
You should retain a car accident lawyer if another driver’s negligent conduct contributed to a rear-end collision, as your attorney can obtain additional damages from your uninsured motorist policy.
Personal Injury Damages Available to Car Accident Victims
Passengers injured in rear-end crashes might claim traditional personal injury damages, including compensation for medical expenses, lost income, and emotional suffering. An experienced legal professional can help victims demand financial settlements for the following:
- Physician costs
- Hospital, ER, and ambulance bills
- Nursing care expenses (in-patient or home-based)
- Medications
- Medical equipment
- Home modifications
- Medical transportation
- Physical rehabilitation
- Occupational therapy
- Cosmetic procedures
- Lost income
- Lost workplace benefits
- Physical pain
- Emotional suffering
- Frustration
- Inconvenience
- Lost enjoyment of life
Attorneys can claim damages for past expenses and future anticipated damages. In serious and fatal injury cases, they might also help family members obtain financial compensation for lost companionship, financial support, increased household responsibilities, and funeral expenses.
Options for Recovering Compensation after Fender-Benders
Most rear-end collision claims result in insurance settlements or, when liability is disputed, jury verdicts. An experienced car accident lawyer will explore all the following avenues of compensation if a car hits you from behind:
- Liable Driver’s Insurer: Because liability generally falls on the rear driver, most liable auto insurance companies will quickly settle rear-end accident claims. If you suffered from a disabling injury, this might result in an immediate policy payout.
- Underinsured Motorist Insurance (UIM): If the liable driver’s insurance company tenders the policy but you have additional damages, an attorney might make an insurance claim with your UIM carrier. This can double your financial award.
- Uninsured Motorist (UM) Insurance: Phantom-driver accidents are often classified as hit-and-runs. As such, legal counsel might demand partial damages under your UM policy.
- Commercial Motor Vehicle Insurance: In chain-reaction accident cases involving commercial trucks, your lawyer might claim damages from the truck’s commercial insurance policy, truck owner, and trucking company.
- Litigation: If necessary, an experienced car accident litigator will sue all negligent parties in court. They might even sue liable insurance companies for refusing to settle rear-end collision claims in bad faith.
Reputable rear-end accident lawyers might obtain needed insurance settlements for you without charging any upfront fees or out-of-pocket costs. Instead, they may accept your case on a contingency fee basis – only getting paid if they recover compensation for you.
Retain a Personal Injury Attorney Following a Rear-End Crash
If a car hits you from behind, you may have a claim for substantial personal injury damages. These claims often result in 100 percent rear-driver liability, but they might also trigger chain-reaction crashes, resulting in multiple claimants. There’s no risk associated with confidentially contacting a local personal injury law firm to discuss what you need to do if a car hits you from behind.