So here is what happened, it was a five car accident

Car #1, Black subaru forester started the accident and rear ended a mini van, and then the forester drove off immediatly, no one got his plate number, and was never found
Car #2, The mini van rear ended a civic
car #3, the civic then rear ended a red subaru forester
car #4, Then the red forester rear ended me
car #5 Is me and I never hit the person in front of me so i am not at fault so I was the last one to be hit. so I went to go and get an estimate and is $2000 for repair. Then my dad tells me since it was a hit and run, and I dont get the $2000 because we dont have this one thing in our insurence. But I think he is wrong.

I live in Washington State and I think that the law is that the person behind you is always at fault. anyways we were all stopped at a red light. If anyone can tell me what to do then please do so. and tell me the law on this

Hi Uncle Senn14,

Sorry your 1992 240 GL got hit after all the work you put into it so far.

Hope the repair is good, honest, and quick.

cheers,

dud.

I got my drivers license in the UK many years ago. They have a law that says if your at a stop light you must activate your emergency brake. If you don't and someone rear ends you then your liable for the person in front of you. If you have it engaged then the person who forced you forward into the car in front of you is liable for both cars. They have a lot of strange driving rules you must show ability to before passing the test. Like not down shifting and waiting until the car is just about to stall before you throw it into neutral. I had lessons from a retired London Police officer which was interesting. Although the clutch he replaced himself just prior to my first lesson was adjusted right at top so it was kind of tough.

I can't say who is at fault, but in California that may be part of what the "Uninsured Motorist" section of the insurance might handle. Good luck.

1. Rear-enders are always the fault of the car behind you.period.

2. If you have insurance, why are you waiting to use it? This is a complicated collision with multiple cars. Use your insurance! They will sort it out.

I'm no lawyer, but I believe this is how it will shake out...

Predicated upon the assumption that ALL the cars, except the #1 black Forester, had already come to a complete stop without any contact, then along came #1. He hit #2 so hard that it shoved #2 into #3, #3 into #4, and #4 into #5. So the only reason there was ANY damage to ANY cars is because of car #1's failure to stop in time. But since car #1 fled the scene, it will be each of the other cars' uninsured motorist coverage that will be tapped to pay for each of their own damage. So if you don't have uninsured motorist coverage, you're out of luck.

Now if you can prove that #4 hit you BEFORE #3 hit him, then you would have a claim.

It's rather amazing that #1 could have inflicted that much damage and still driven away.

I think Chris might be right. However: there's nothing stopping you from trying to file a claim with the insurance company of the person that directly hit you.

The real difference between you right now (without comprehensive/collision coverage) and if you had that coverage is that, with the coverage, your insurance co. would potentially be on the hook to layout money for the repair/replacement of your car. Since they don't like to give out money, they could (and would) go after someone else's insurance, in order to have that other company repair/replace your car (so your insurance co. doesn't have to, thus saving them money). You personally can still give that a shot, but without the resources of a big insurance co. it's pretty unlikely. Still, like I said, there's nothing stopping you from trying. The worst thing that could happen is that you get nothing, which is exactly the same as what you'd get for not pursuing it at all.

Whatever you do, good luck! These situations suck.

If you have collision then its a no brainer. You utilize your collision coverage, pay the deductible and you should not be hit with a rate increase as it wasn't an "at fault accident". Your insurance company then has a duty to pursue subrogation on your behalf(in most states and most policies). BUT I would guess its unlikely you have collision on a vehicle of that age(and low value). If you have UPD(Uninsured motorist Physical Damage) coverage on your policy it may be pursued although some states preclude its use when there is a "phantom vehicle" that is assumed to be the Uninsured....Now all that being said depending on your stomach for such things, you can simply file a claim in small claims court directed at the vehicle(owner) which struck you directly. That person will call their insurance Co. in a tizzy. Their insurance Co. has a "Duty" to defend them(or risk treble damages)and will have to send a lawyer to represent them against the small claims action. This costs the Ins Co $$. So they at that point they have to choose to either send a Lawyer to defend OR simply pay your claim. If your claim is for less than the cost of sending a lawyer...they send you a check. I call this the "nuclear" option when dealing with an auto Insurance Co.

And it works. I was hit by a guy who left the scene, but not before I got his plate. I tracked him down and filed a claim with his insurance. After weeks of auguring I told them I'll be taking their insured to small claims, and they wrote a check.

The problem with this response it that you'll absolutely be screwing over the guy who directly hit you, even though it's really not his/her fault. His/her premiums could go up as a result, or worse.

#4 is responsible for hitting you. It is up to him to collect from whoever hit him, and so forth back the line. #2 is the victim of a hit and run, but is still responsible for the vehicle in front of him.
--
john

I feel I have to weigh in here, I was in auto insurance claims for 20 years. The bottom line, in a chain reaction accident, if you, the last vehicle hit felt one impact, you have just shown that it was the first vehicle (the one that left the scene) that caused the impact and the car immediately behind you cannot be collected from. If you felt multiple impacts, you can file against the car behind you. Now, your Dad probably said you don't have collision coverage for your car, and probably don't have what's called uninsured motorist, Property Damage. If you don't have either of those coverages, you won't be able to file with your own carrier. Hope that helps. Greg

Well I guess I left out a little part, car #2 said she was so suprized when she got hit, she let off the brakes. and I bareley got hit but it was enough to put the smallest dent in the bumper, crack a tail light, bend the fender and some paint is chipped and the trunk is slightly miss aligned, but you couldnt even recognise it unless I told you.

I agree with John that you are to be made right by the liability carrier for the car that hit you from behind as that driver was the last person to be able to avoid damaging your vehicle and thus #2's insurance or bankroll should fix your vehicle. You could also consider that that driver stopped too close for conditions, an established fact by the accident, and that what you said about the brake added some contributing negligence to the chain reaction. Since you are an innocent in this, your car should get fixed regardless whether the original cause was a hit and run. The bad news is that in some states, you are still charged with an accident whether at fault or not.

So you guys are saying that if I pull up to a stop light behind another car and come to a complete stop well behind that car, and we are both stationary with adequate gap (say 10 feet) between our cars, and then a third car comes barreling down the road and hits me so hard that it drives my car into the one in front of me, that I am then responsible for the damage to the car in front of me? If that's the case, I think I'll get into the habit of stopping about 50 yards back.

Driving involves risks and responsibilities that we all balance as we drive. The case you cite with a high speed rear-end collision and conclusion you inferred becomes moot when the prime or root causal driver is determined. However, an equality concept called proportional liability in some states could indeed enforce your inference as whoever is involved having the most money or insurance gets to pay for the uninsured or inadequately insured causal driver. For that reason, insurance companies charge you with an accident whether it is your fault or not because no matter how small your proportional liability, if nobody else but you has insurance, your insurance will have to pay, similarly, if you have uninsured motorist, the insurance company has to pay. To keep this automotive, being the nut turning on the steering wheel can turn out to be expensive no matter how high the quality of your part is.

Laws vary from state to state AND insurance companies have internal policy when the laws do not dictate fault for your state (often the case).

One of the dirty little secrets...well not secrets, but lesser known facts...of insurance is that most of the time you sign over some of your rights to the insurance company in exchange for the policy. Until such time as they have expended the limits of their side of the contract, you are at their mercy.

95% of the time the terms of duty to defend work in your favor but it can occasionally bite you in the butt. No matter, the first time you encounter it, knowing how much power they have feels like a violation.