Even a car accident between two vehicles can cause catastrophic injuries and result in multiple deaths, so you can only imagine the severe repercussions of a motor vehicle collision involving multiple cars.

Multiple-vehicle accidents, also known as pile-up crashes and chain-reaction accidents, are considered the deadliest type of car accidents. Those involved in this type of motor vehicle accident can be hit multiple times from behind, front, or side over and over again.

The challenges of recovering damages after a multiple-car accident

“As if things weren’t bad enough, multiple-car crashes are also associated with uncertainty when it comes to determining fault and recovering damages, because all the parties involves usually attempt to shift the blame on to someone other than themselves,” warns a Philadelphia multiple-vehicle crash attorney at Dan Doyle Law Group.

This uncertainty prompts insurance companies to deny coverage or offer injured parties as little compensation as possible. In the best-case scenario, you will have to wait for months or years to actually get compensated because the insurers will take their time to conduct investigations and hire accident reconstruction experts to establish fault.

Still, there’s no guarantee that these investigations will be fair and not biased against you, which is why hiring an experienced multiple-car accident attorney Philadelphia is highly recommended. Luckily, you can contact our lawyers from Dan Doyle Law Group, who are known for their aggressive approach when it comes to fighting for the maximum compensation of our clients in pile-up accidents.

Causes of chain-reaction accidents

Chain-reaction crashes are more common than you think. According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about 33 percent of annual car crashes in the U.S. are multiple-vehicle car accidents. Multiple-car crashes occur due to a number of causes, including but not limited to:

A large percentage of multiple-vehicle accidents involve deaths, and it’s no surprise why. Our Philadelphia chain-reaction accident lawyer explains that the more vehicles involved, the higher the risk that your car will be hit multiple times from different angles and with different force of impact. In fact, cases in which injured parties were trapped within their vehicles are not unheard of.

Determining fault in a multiple-vehicle crash

As we have mentioned earlier, determining fault in a multiple-vehicle accident is tricky, but let us explain just how tricky and confusing it can get. Generally, chain-reaction car accidents can fall into either of these three categories:

  1. Rear-ending, chain-reaction: This one typically occurs when the traffic stops on the road or highway. One vehicle rear ends another vehicle, which triggers a chain-reaction crash involving other vehicles. Typically, the rear car will be at-fault as long as the cars in front of it stopped due to a traffic light or other legitimate reason, and the driver of the rear vehicle was distracted or violated any other traffic rule when he or she caused the multiple-vehicle crash.
  2. The middle car hitting the front vehicle: The rear vehicle is not always at-fault in chain-reaction crashes. For example, let’s imagine that a multiple-vehicle crash involves three cars, and the middle car hits the front car first due to its driver’s negligence. The rear vehicle, meanwhile, did not have a reasonable amount of time to swerve to avoid a collision.
  3. The front vehicle caused the crash: It also happens that the front vehicle can be at fault in a chain-reaction crash. For example, let’s imagine that the front vehicle performs an illegal lane change, which causes a vehicle behind it to slam on the brakes, leaving drivers of the vehicles behind it no reasonable amount of time to react in time to avoid a collision.

If you or someone you love has been in a multiple-car accident, do not hesitate to speak to our skilled car crash lawyers from Dan Doyle Law Group. Schedule a free consultation by calling our firm.

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