A flatbed truck hit a Honda Accord head-on and then collided with a Toyota pickup killing one and injuring two more. The wreck happened on Richwood Road in Walton Thursday, January 10, 2019. According to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, the right axle of the flatbed went off the road and the driver corrected but then crossed the centerline striking the Accord head-on. The collision caused the back axle to come off the flatbed hitting the pickup.
The driver of the Accord died at the scene and two children, both age 12, were taken to a local hospital. The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to call them at (859) 334-2175.
Multi-Car Accidents
Multiple-Car collisions can be especially dangerous and cause severe injuries. If the accident was a chain-reaction crash—which happens when one impact directly causes one or more impacts involving more vehicles—those involved typically have little time to react defensively. This can result in greater damage to the vehicles and in more severe injuries to those in the accident.
A chain-reaction crash can happen regardless of the conditions of the road and are more common on high-speed roadways such as freeways or highways. This adds to the difficulty for the secondary impact driver to be able to avoid the accident.
Another type of multi-car accident is a pile-up crash were cars that were not involved in the first impact are unable to slow or stop in time and run into the cars in front of them—sometimes into one of the vehicles already involved in the wreck.
Determining Liability
In all multiple-car crashes, determining liability is often difficult. Reconstructing the events of a single impact wreck can be challenging enough, but when there are several impacts involving multiple vehicles, it can be even more confusing.
This is because the accident scene is likely strewn with debris, and the vehicles are often no where near where the impact happened. With secondary impacts, determining the order of events is important but hard to do. This creates problems when it comes to determining liability. There is likely more than one at-fault driver which means that a driver might be a victim in one accident and at fault in another.
The accident investigators typically do not make a conclusion on whose fault it is, rather they create a report giving their opinion on what happened. Insurance companies will take this and attempt to point the finger at everyone but their insured.
Do I Need to get an Attorney?
It would be nice if everyone was fair and insurance companies gave the compensation that the injured deserves, but in reality, the insurance companies don’t make a profit when they give out more money.
So the best thing to do if you are involved in a multiple-car crash—even if you were at fault for some of it—is to talk to an attorney who can advise you and evaluate your case. You need an attorney that understands the law and has experience dealing with insurance companies.
Don’t wait until they start treating you poorly before you contact an attorney as some mistakes can’t be undone. The sooner you have someone working for you, the better off you are. Call the Pearce Law Firm, P.C. at (215) 557-8686 or text at 215 880 6164. You can also contact us online by clicking here.