Champions For Injured Pennsylvanians

Who is liable for a multicar accident in Pennsylvania?

On Behalf of | Dec 6, 2018 | Motor Vehicle Accidents |

Multicar accidents can happen so easily in winter. One slip of the tires on a snowy road can set off a chain reaction that easily involves three or more cars in a wreck.

Hopefully, if you do end up in a multicar accident, you won’t suffer anything worse than a bent fender or a broken taillight. If you do end up injured, however, you may find the process of obtaining fair compensation for your injuries to be far more difficult than you expect.

The odds are high that the police will cite somebody for the accident. While that’s a start when it comes to determining liability, the police report isn’t the only thing the insurance companies will rely on. The insurance companies involved will likely do their own investigation into the circumstances of the accident in order to determine who should bear the liability for any injury claims and damages.

In Pennsylvania, each driver involved in a car accident is assigned a percentage of fault based on how much they contributed to the accident. As long as you are less than 50 percent responsible for the accident, you are still due compensation for your injuries. Any award you receive, however, will be reduced by the percentage of fault that you are assigned.

Ultimately, this means you may have to seek compensation from more than one driver’s insurance company — and you can bet that none of the insurance companies are exactly clamoring to take responsibility for the claim! Some may even try to throw liability for the accident back on you, even if you clearly weren’t responsible.

That’s why it’s so important to take photos (if you can) of the accident scene, the road, the traffic conditions and the weather at the scene. It’s also smart to avoid engaging in conversation with any insurance adjusters. You have no idea how something you say might be turned against you. A car accident attorney can step in and protect your interests.

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