Understanding Multi-Car Pileup Accidents
We here at the Malloy Law Offices blog keep a close eye on local news, especially in the Washington DC and Baltimore metro areas. Beyond the civic duty to stay informed on current affairs, we want to gauge the topics most likely to be relevant to our readership. One particular item reported by FOX 5 Washington DC caught our eye: a multi-car pileup on the beltway in Prince Geroge’s County, Maryland. This tragic accident claimed the life of one individual involved and seriously injured at least two others. Drives on crowded highways are an experience almost everyone in our region can relate to, and as this incident illustrates, multi-car accidents can be a deadly fact of life when traveling in our area. Today’s Malloy Law blog post will tackle multi-car pileup accidents.
Defining the Multi-Car Pileup
Insurance companies generally sort collisions between two vehicles into sub-categories based on the circumstances of the accident. (Head-on collision, rear-end collision, sideswipe accident, etc.)
For the purposes of this article, we’ll be adhering to the insurance definition. The insurance companies generally set the threshold for a “multi-car accident” at three vehicles. These include “chain reaction” accidents, where one car hitting another (usually from behind) causes a domino effect of cars hitting each other in a line. While these accidents have the potential to cause injury, same as any other, the more dramatic and life-threatening incidents often happen in poor weather or visibility on highways, where a sudden swerve or stop can result in violent collisions at high speeds. The tendency for cars to overrun each other and become entangled once they’ve expended their momentum is the origin of the terms “multi-car pileup.”
Multi-Car Pileups and Personal Injury Compensation
Let’s assume, as an example, that you were the victim of negligence in a multi-car pileup which resulted in injury to you. Your attorney has arrived at a precise amount that can be utilized in settlement negotiations after completing their accounting and evaluating losses resulting from medical costs, physical pain, mental anguish, and missed wages. Everything is going swimmingly in negotiations, and everyone who was careless has agreed to pay. However, not all of them share equal blame for the incident. Consequently, each party will be required to pay a proportional share of the overall settlement amount commensurate with their level of liability for your injury.
The Blame Game and Contributory Negligence
Now, as you may have noticed in the preceding example of how these negotiations should work, everyone was rather calm and agreeable. This is very rarely the case with flesh and blood people. Because everyone has a personal financial situation to safeguard, the responsible parties and their insurance companies will do everything in their power to keep the damage to a minimum. This will mean minimizing your injury and their culpability for it. There will be more insurance firms to deal with in this scenario, and the ones representing negligent parties will have an incentive to assign responsibility to each other. This will naturally result in a more complex negotiation process.
In addition, in contributory negligence states (such as Maryland and Virginia) even 1% responsibility for your own injury could leave you with no path to claim damages. As you might expect, this calculation of fault becomes even more complicated in a personal injury claim involving multiple parties.
How Malloy Law Can Help
If you or a loved one has been injured in a multi-vehicle pileup, Malloy Law may be able to help. Our experienced team of car accident specialists will assess your case free of charge and plot a path to maximum compensation. Don’t face down the insurance companies alone, call Malloy Law today and let’s win your case.
